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DECEMBER 4, 2020 | 1 8 KI S L E V 5781 | VO L. 1 01 | NO. 8 | THREE SECTIONS | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 4:37 P.M.
A2 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Welcome
The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920)
Abby Kutler President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer Michael Ivey Accounting Jewish Press Board Abby Kutler, President; Eric Dunning, Ex-Officio; Danni Christensen, David Finkelstein, Candice Friedman, Bracha Goldsweig, Margie Gutnik, Natasha Kraft, Chuck Lucoff, Eric Shapiro, Andy Shefsky, Shoshy Susman and Amy Tipp. The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations Committee, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Life, Jewish Social Services, and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: wwwjewishomaha. 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. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha. org. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. 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 KampWright, 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.
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The light answers
The photo on this page was taken December 1, 1931. The text on the back reads: “Chanukah 5692 (1932) ‘Death to Judah’ So the flag says ‘Judah will live forever’ So the light answers” Just as I was contemplating this year’s Hanukkah message, I received an email from a friend. In the middle of her letter was this one sentence: “Standing up after we fall,” it read. For obvious reasons, the line stuck with me. Although there are many different ways to ‘fall,’ it certainly feels like this entire calendar year has been an exercise in getting back up. Because we must; the essential truth about hard times is that, as long as we have the confidence that things will improve, we can make it. Back in 1931, when that picture was taken, nobody could have known how far and how deep the world would fall. Compared to that, what we are experiencing today is a very small stumble. That does not mean it is not awful. This is no small bump in the road for the Hanukkah Menorah in the window of Rabbi Akova Boruch Posner, opposite the Nazi Party relatives of the 1.34 million headquarters building in Kiel, Germany, in 1932. Berger is, of course, talking about the original Temple in who have perished worldwide. Let’s let that number sink in for just a second. Repeat it slowly to ourselves. Can we even Jerusalem- not our own synagogues, which currently sit empty but to which we will, G-d willing, soon return. However, imagine it? So, what do we do? What do we tell ourselves as we light Hanukkah is by definition a holiday that is celebrated in the these candles? What is it that we hope to learn, to gain, from home. When we light our candles, let’s think of not only of the oil that burns in front of our eyes, but also about the light that the flames? ‘The light answers,’ it said on the back of the photograph. burns within us. It may flicker and sputter now and then, but Perhaps we can be that light. Maybe we can see that flame, we will not let it burn out. Until there is a vaccine, we will pernot as an external source of light, but as something that lives haps fall a little more. Eventually, though, we will stand back within us. A bright spark, a Ner Tamid, that we work to keep up. May the light within us help us get there. lit, especially when it’s difficult. How do we do that? “I choose to focus on a different meaning for the notion of Happy Hanukkah! a ‘little sanctuary,’ not a physical structure but a spiritual state,” Rabbah Arlene Berger wrote. “We as individuals become the ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT little sanctuaries that carry God’s presence around. There is Editor, Jewish Press godliness within all of us, a fact that many of us forget on a regular basis. Once our lives revolved around the Temple. Today our spirituality, our souls, live and die together based on the communities that we form and on the caring that we give to one another.”
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | A3
Hanukkah 2020 I look at Hanukkah in many different ways. Translated, Hanukkah means dedication or to dedicate, and it shares the same Hebrew root as the word chinuch, meaning education. I want to use these two words – dedication and ALAN POTASH education – to tell you Chief Executive about a gift that was Officer, JFO given to the Omaha Jewish community 100 years ago. I want to take you back to Hanukkah, Dec. 16, 1920, almost one hundred years ago and to the first edition of the Jewish Press. This valuable community resource has been delivered to Jewish households without fail almost every Friday since the first edition. As I write this Hanukkah message, I am flipping through the first edition and reading news of Jews around the world. The first and subsequent Presses feature local, national and global news: Harry Zimman, city commissioner, accepts an appointment from Herbert Hoover to raise funds for starving children in Europe. Sol A. Rosenblatt is honored at Harvard for being elected captain of the debate team. Another feature lists Jews in congress at that time. Such a rich history of our community. I could go on and on, but the point I want to make is that in 1920, a group of dedicated local leaders invested in and dedicated this newspaper for the benefit of the Jewish community (at times including Iowa and South Dakota). I want to mention another key issue of the Jewish Press that came out just a month after the first edition. In January of 1921, the Press published for the first time the annual report of the Jewish Welfare Federation (now the Jewish Federation of Omaha). (While we continue this tradition today, I should add that the early editions of the Jewish Press listed names of people who did not donate to the annual campaign. We currently do not include that information). The annual report listed the donors for the 1919 and 1920 appeals. Approximately 750 donors contributed just under $18,000, plus an additional $2,000 from a separate women's campaign and $3,000 from other funds. The total of $23,383.43 was then disbursed back
into the community. All of this just two years after the pandemic of 1918 and on the heels of World War I. This Jewish community came together – granted, there were divisions (more on this in a future article) – to establish the roots of what we have today. In a month or so, we will be completing the renovation of our 46-year-old building, giving a gift to future generations of the Omaha Jewish community. I often talk about the vision this community had in the 1920s. The vision to publish a weekly Jewish paper which is still in publication today. The vision to build a state-of-theart facility in 1926, and soon we will be unveiling a new state-of-the-art version of our building, originally built in 1974. Going through the list of names in the annual reports of 1919 and 1920, I was honored to see my great-grandfather listed as a donor. He wasn't one of the major donors, but his gift, like all gifts, made a difference. So this Hanukkah, think like the early leaders in our community who forged a pathway through good and bad times to ensure that the needs of the Jewish community would be met – not only during their time, but for generations to come. One of the other observations I can take away from the gift of the Jewish Press in 1920 is that it came as a way to educate and connect the community in the midst of the 1918 Flu Pandemic (which lasted until the early 1920s). The stated goal of the Press, from its first edition, was to exist for the community as a “representative organ for the various Jewish organizations in the city and a medium with which to promote Jewish communal activities.” It also served as a way to keep the community informed and educated on current events, both locally and abroad. In much the same way that we use Zoom today during the current pandemic – as a means to learn from and connect with others beyond the walls of our homes and offices – the Jewish Press gave the community a way to connect and stay informed during the Flu Pandemic of 1918. So, as a Hanukkah gift to the community in 1920, the Jewish Press fulfilled at least two of the meanings of Hanukkah – to dedicate and to educate. Let’s keep passing it forward.
B’nai Israel Synagogue Wishes the Community a Happy Hanukkah! National Register of Historic Places A Century of Tradition 618 Mynster Street, Council Bluffs, IA
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A4 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Celebrating Hanukkah at Temple Israel CASSANDRA WEISENBURGER Temple Israel Director of Communications FIRST NIGHT, FIRST LIGHT HANUKKAH CELEBRATION Thursday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m. — Zoom ID: 82185160056 We invite you to join us in the parking lot of Temple Israel as we celebrate the first night of Hanukkah! A special six-foot Chanukiah is being built, and we will broadcast over Zoom so we can come together while staying safe and warm. We also want to take this opportunity to come together as a way to “spread the light” to others in our community. Temple Israel is hosting a winter gear drive for Together, Inc. to assist in their outreach to families and those who are homeless during the winter. To that end, we would like to ask people to bring the following new or gently-used items as gifts to donate: winter coats, hats, gloves, scarves, hand/foot warmers, sleeping bags and tents. At 7 p.m., come to the Temple Israel parking lot, drop off your donations and pick a spot to watch the lighting. At 7:30
p.m., we will begin our short service and celebrate Hanukkah together as a community. HANUKKAH SERVICE Friday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m. — Zoom ID: 951048515 Join us for our annual Hanukkah service! Though we cannot be together in person, we will celebrate Hanukkah together
Happy Hanukkah May you and your family have a healthy and joyous holiday at home — this season and beyond. It’s our honor to provide you with the best, expert care, giving you and your loved ones peace of mind — so you
virtually. During this service, we will be showcasing different Chanukiahs from our congregants. If you have a photo of a Chanukiah that is special to you, please send it and a short description to Director of Communications Cassandra Weisenburger, chicks@tem pleisraelomaha. com, so we can share them with the congregation during services. After services, you’ll have the chance to join other congregants virtually for dinner and conversation. For more information, please contact Director of Engagement and Events Mindi Marburg, mmarburg@templeisraelomaha.com. HANUKKAH MEALS TO GO Temple Israel wants to help you prepare for Hanukkah! Chef John Hattam has prepared a delicious holiday menu with three different entree choices and, of course, latkes! Adult meals are $25 and meals for children 12 and younger are $12. Orders may be placed through Tuesday, Dec. 8. Hanukkah Meals should be picked up December 11 at Temple Israel. Our Hanukkah meals contain: choice of entrée (brisket, chicken piccata, salmon), potato latkes, fresh fruit mix, and sufganiyot (jelly-filled donuts). HANUKKAH PREP KITS Temple Israel is also selling Hanukkah Prep Kits for only $5. Orders may be placed through Tuesday, Dec. 8. Kits should be picked up Dec. 7-9 at Temple Israel. Each kit includes: 1 box of Hanukkah candles, two bags of Hanukkah gelt, 1 dreidel, Hanukkah song sheet, and latke recipes (potato, sweet potato, zucchini, gluten-free). For ordering information, please visit templeisraeloma ha.com. If you have any questions, please contact Director of Engagement and Events Mindi Marburg, mmarburg@tem pleisraelomaha.com.
Celebrating Hanukkah at Beth El
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ROBBY ERLICH Beth El Engagement Coordinator Beth El is excited to invite you to a very innovative and free Hanukkah event on Saturday evening Dec. 12 in the front parking lot of the synagogue starting at 6 p.m. The evening will start out with Havdallah lead by Rabbi Abraham and Hazzan Krausman. After Havdallah, selected members of the Beth El community will light our specially constructed Hanukkiah built by congregant Milt Katskee. During the evening, participants will be dazzled and wowed by performers from the Omaha Circus Company. Participants will be required to stay in their cars or next to their cars (during the event) and to adhere to CDC COVID guidelines. This will be a night not too miss for the whole community! Rabbi Abraham is looking forward to the evening. “While we don’t use the synagogue out of an abundance of caution, we are still looking for ways to bring the congregation together. What could be better than an outdoor Hanukkah candle lighting and light show?” Even though Beth El’s annual Hanukkah dinner and entertainment evening will not occur face to face, Beth El still hopes that our community will come together, safely, to celebrate the festival of lights! We hope that you will join us!
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | A5
News LOCA L | N ATION AL | WORLD
Community Advisory Board devotes time and talent to the Schwalb Center THE SCHWALB CENTER PUBLICITY COMMITTEE: CHAIR MARGO RIEKES, SHARON BRODKEY, JOANIE JACOBSON, HARVEY KONIGSBERG, MEGAN MOSLANDER, OZZIE NOGG, AND NATE SHAPIRO The Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha is pleased to announce its Advisory Board members for 2021-2022. The Board includes members of the Jewish community and leaders in business and nonprofit organizations. Members work together to strengthen and promote the Center in the Jewish community and beyond. THE SCHWALBS’ VISION Some of the Board members became involved based on their admiration and respect for the visionary work of Nate and Hannah Schwalb in establishing the Center at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2009. Marty Ricks remembered meeting Nate at Central High School in 1957, soon after Nate had arrived from Israel. Ricks said, “I deeply respect what he has accomplished in business and, with Hannah, have shared their success by establishing the Center.” Allan Murow expounded on Rick’s comments, “Nate’s unique perspective and unending support for Israel and commitment to the Jewish community inspired me to get involved in the Center.” Bob Wolfson pointed out how unusual it is for a Jewish community the size of Omaha’s to even imagine an institution like the Schwalb Center and
Dr. Jeannette Gabriel, Director
Rich Juro, Board President
has been holding online gives credit to Nate’s and events. Rich Juro is exHannah’s vision for makNate and Hannah Schwalb, Founders cited about the new audiing this a reality. “A reences that are being reached (via Zoom!) which will source of the highest caliber, the Schwalb Center bring greater attention to the Schwalb Center here continues to broaden our knowledge and underin Omaha and throughout the world. standing of life in the Middle East and Israel with “There are too many people who do not know stellar programming, outstanding speakers and about Israel’s history and what the country is like well-attended events. Its 10th anniversary is testitoday, ” contends Margo Riekes. Her goal is to make mony to its reputation for excellence.” the Center better known so “more local college stuBRINGING THE JEWISH WORLD TO OMAHA dents, Omaha Jews and the general public will take Howard Epstein articulated the core mission of the Center by pointing out how it “fills a void in ed- advantage of what the Center offers.” Nancy Wolf ucating a wide range of people — Jews and non- summed up a core goal of the Center... “Providing Jews — about Judaism, Israel and the Middle East, information through programs, classes and special subjects not readily and widely available for study events will result in stronger community relations, in the area. Through programs and lectures, the increased tolerance, and individuals who are better Schwalb Center brings the broad Jewish world into informed.” Omaha.” Since the COVID crisis began, the Center See Schwalb Center Advisory Board page A6
A6 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
News LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D
The Schwalb Center’s best kept secret
Schwalb Center Advisory Board Continued from page A5 SIGNIFICANCE OF ACADEMIC SETTING Harvey Konigsberg got involved with the Schwalb Center after taking classes at UNO through the Senior Passport Program. While he had previously attended some programs, he didn’t fully comprehend the Center’s significance. He observed, “The Center occupies a unique and vital role at the University by bringing awareness of Jewish and Israeli issues to a student population of relatively few Jews. Scholarly traditions are maintained while students, faculty and the community are enriched.” Emily MacNabb took several courses through the Schwalb Center as both an undergraduate and graduate student and now integrates resources from the Center into her own classes at UNO. She said the Center is on the “front lines of the fight against antiIsrael, anti-Semitism and antiZionist movements on college campuses by providing a fair and balanced perspective on See Schalb Center page A7
ADVISORY BOARD
Howard Epstein
Darlene Golbitz
Harvey Konisberg
Emily MacNabb
Megan Moslander
Allan Murow
Marty Ricks
Margo Riekes
Nate Shapiro
Ed Walsh
Nancy Wolf
Bob Wolfson
Just a year and a half on the job, Executive Director, Dr. Jeannette Gabriel has proven to be a tremendous asset to the Schwalb Center. Howard Epstein explained, “She’s become very visible in the community giving lectures, teaching classes, conducting interviews, creating online programming and writing articles for The Jewish Press. She’s visionary, smart, resourceful and confident, all of which has enhanced our profile in the community. In turn, she benefits the community. It’s easy to follow her lead.” Allan Murow said, “I first met Dr. Gabriel at a Beth El adult education class and so enjoyed the experience that I signed up for a number of additional classes. Her depth of knowledge and ability to engage the entire class in a wide range of subjects demonstrates her exceptional skills as an educator.” Both Marty Ricks and Nancy Wolf vividly remembered seeing Jeannette first speak at the B’nai Israel Synagogue in Council Bluffs on her work establishing the Jewish Women’s Archives at the University of Iowa. Nancy had invited Jeannette to speak and recalled, “I thought it was so special of her to want to travel the distance in order to share the information of the archive with people she hadn’t met. Jeannette cares about the work she does and puts her all into making the best possible experience for others.”
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The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | A7
Meditation for spiritual inspiration CASSANDRA WEISENBURGER Temple Israel Director of Communications and MINDI MARBURG Director of Engagement and Events The year 2020 has been full of challenges, and we are all still trying to get used to this new normal. We can’t forget how important it is to take time to take care of ourselves.
If meditation is how you relax and relieve stress, or something you’ve always wanted to try, we invite you to join Temple Israel virtually on Wednesday mornings at 9 a.m. for Mindfulness Meditation with Margot Andersen. What was originally only going to be a six-week program has turned into a weekly event. This is a perfect place to find an oasis of calm within the fear and anxiety that is swirling around us right now. Give yourself the gift of relaxation. “I attended the initial community program provided by Margot and jumped at the chance to practice meditation weekly with her,” said Debra Chadwick. “I appreciate Margot’s leadership because she is a genuinely caring person and is interested in each person, in every single session. She possesses a wealth of information beyond her meditation skills. She always has her bag of knowledge available to reach into whenever anyone is especially troubled, in order to help them through a trying time and point them in the right direction.” Having personally experienced the traumas of divorce, a child with mental illness, chronic migraines, serious health issues and the death of her own son Adam at the age of 29, Margot is sensitive to and passionate about cultivating resilience in others. Margot received her Master’s in Social Work from Loyola University. She is a certified Jewish Mindfulness and Meditation teacher and a registered yoga teacher specializing in anxiety, depression and trauma. “When COVID hit in the spring, I, like many of us, became isolated at home,” said Gail Knapp. “I found myself carrying a load of anxiety about the pandemic, the lack of leadership in the elected officials entrusted to protect us and the rising rate of anti-Semitism. And piled on top of this was a never-ending string of loss. Since 2020 began, I hadn’t gone through a week that someone I knew hadn’t buried a loved one. Besides the funerals that I couldn’t attend, there were people I knew who became sick, lost jobs and were separated from loved ones. I had lost my sense of peace.” For Gail, mediation has helped to change that. “It has helped me remember to stay calm, breathe and be always mindful of the blessings I have around me at this very moment.” Beginners and experienced meditators are welcome to this safe space. Karen Oyler explains what you can expect when you join: “A typical session starts with a few minutes of chatting as people connect to the session and get situated in their chairs. We’re asked to mute our microphones so unexpected background noises don’t startle the group. Then Margot reads a piece of writing for us to think about, then goes into leading us through relaxing our bodies. She’ll then lead us back to the reading to close out the session. The atmosphere is casual and comfortable. You can engage on your own terms.” Karen uses meditation to help deal with chronic pain, and though she’s not new to meditation, she was relatively new to meditating with a group. “I wasn’t sure what I was getting into at first. It didn’t take long to really feel the connection with the others each week. I like the routine and knowing that I’m not alone. The group is welcoming, easy-going and Margot does a great job of leading you into a quiet meditative space.” A suggested contribution of $18 per month will help us keep Margot’s class on our schedule. Please contact Director of See Meditation page A9
Schwalb Center Continued from page A6 both historic and contemporary issues related to the state of Israel.” Others mentioned being drawn to the Schwalb Center because of the Samuel Bak exhibit at UNO during the fall of 2019. Darlene Golbitz and Nate Shapiro mentioned the importance of the Center’s support and engagement with the recent Samuel Bak exhibit that featured dozens of his Holocaust paintings. Golbitz worked as a docent giving tours to school children and community members. “The collaboration and professional organization among the groups involved was inspiring,” she said. “I was so impressed with UNO’s commitment to bring this Holocaust-inspired event to the community.” Nate Shapiro identified the academic setting as “an important space where people from different communities and backgrounds can come together and learn from each other.” He pointed out, “The Jewish community in Omaha should
not become too insular, and I think it’s equally important that the wider Omaha community have access to a diverse array of perspectives and stories.” Megan Moslander called the Center “a real gift, a place for the whole metro area to learn and grow and meet others through truly eye-opening and thought-provoking programming.” She mentioned that as a non-Jewish member of the Board it is her hope to bring nonJewish peers and colleagues closer to the Center with the goal of creating a more harmonious city for all. One of the goals of the Schwalb Center is to build international academic collaborations and the Advisory Board members provide important assistance in building these ties. Ed Walsh said that as a member of Omaha’s scientific community he believed, “The Schwalb Center is optimally poised to play a major role in building international collaborations. I see the Center bringing scientists and human rights scholars from all corners of the planet to the conference table to address questions that are of greatest importance to humankind.”
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Interfaith Coalition of clergy calls for mask mandate SIERRA SALGADO PIRIGYI Communications Director for Tri-Faith Initiative More than 200 clergy representing Jewish, Christian and Muslim congregations throughout Nebraska have signed a letter from the Interfaith COVID Task Force, urging Governor Pete Ricketts to institute a statewide mask mandate. The letter can be found on Tri-Faith’s website at trifaith. org/perspectives. Signatures are still being collected at tinyurl. com/MaskOnNE. “As the pandemic continues to ravage our communities and hospital systems, we are called as faith leaders to take a stand for and protect our families, friends, colleagues and neighbors. Masks are a simple but effective way to reduce the spread of COVID-19. It is
far past time to enact a mandate that helps protect the most vulnerable in our communities,” says Rabbi A. Brian Stoller, Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel. The Interfaith COVID Task Force was convened by Tri-Faith Initiative in April 2020 to address the needs of Nebraska congregations and their members during the pandemic. It is made up of a coalition of faith leaders from the Omaha area. In June, the Omaha Interfaith Community released Recommendations for Conducting Faith-Based Services during the COVID-19 pandemic in both English and Spanish. The Task Force continues to respond to the pandemic’s impact on the state, where currently more than 2,000 Nebraskans are infected See Mask mandate page A9
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Happy Hanukkah
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The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | A9
News
Meditation Continued from page A7 Engagement and Events Mindi Marburg, Mmarburg@ templeisraelomaha.com or 954.240.8662, for more information. “Margot’s gentle, uplifting style is characterized by respect, inclusiveness and comfort, with a dash of poetry and Jewish spirituality,” said Joan Shapiro. “This peaceful half hour is a helpful tool in my stress management toolbox. In this time of COVID, Mindful Meditation with Margot creates a safe connection with others seeking calm and spiritual inspiration. Try it. You’ll like it!”
Mask mandate Continued from page A8 daily. Nebraska is experiencing a near-critical shortage of hospital beds, yet is one of the few states without a mask mandate. In the letter, clergy name their disappointment in Governor Rickett’s decision to refuse a mask mandate, and urge clergy and laity across the state of Nebraska to use the hashtag #nebraskafaithCARES to “stand alongside their neighbors to bring equitable support for those who are disproportionately affected by the COVID crises.” “We are calling on Governor Ricketts to issue an executive order mandating a facecovering requirement throughout the state, along with a statewide moratorium on evictions. We are also urging him to pursue further investment in fighting food insecurity and housing crises,” says Wendy Goldberg, Executive Director of Tri-Faith Initiative. Tri-Faith Initiative and the Interfaith COVID Task Force hope that increased public pressure on the governor will help spur his administration to action.
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Israel’s favorite Jewish holiday I had a determinedly blasé attitude toward Hanukkah growing up: America’s retailers were not going to cause me to accord this minor Jewish holiday with the equivalent importance of Christmas for Chris- TEDDY tians. Hanukkah was WEINBERGER going to be for me what it had been for Jews throughout the centuries: lighting the Hanukkah menorah each night for an eight-day period during the darkest time of the year and eating potato latkes. To get an understanding of how minor a religious holiday Hanukkah is, one just needs to open a traditional siddur and look at the tiny letters introducing “al hanisim” (“for your miracles”), the special Hanukkah insert recited during each of the three daily Amidah prayers. The introduction says that if you forgot to put in the special insert, you do not repeat the prayer. Apparently due to the fact that Hanukkah has none of the restrictions of the Sabbath or the major holidays, it is close enough to weekday time so that if you prayed a completely “regular” Amidah, you fulfilled your religious obligation (whereas if one forgets to give the Sabbath or major holiday its due during the Amidah, one needs to repeat the whole lengthy prayer again). A person taking their cue from the siddur, then, would not
be overly persuaded of Hanukkah’s relative importance in Judaism. All this goes to explain why it has taken me almost a quarter of a century to see the obvious: Hanukkah is “the favorite religious holiday of secular Jews” (as a writer in Haaretz put it). Hanukkah in Israel has managed to capture the hearts of all Israelis, religious and non-religious. How did this happen? The answer starts as early as infant care: In almost every one of these programs, even in the heart of secular Israel (where I now live), children as young as a few months old come home with menorahs with their names on it and are taught all the various Israeli Hanukkah songs (and there are a lot of them!). These songs and customs get repeated all throughout grade school and beyond--so that by the time an Israeli turns into an adult the Hanukkah tradition touches some warm place in their being. Israeli society in general promotes Hanukkah by the following: donuts (not just jelly but also fancy ones) start appearing in bakeries more than a month before the holiday, children are off from school (which often means that parents will take at least some vacation days during Hanukkah), there are candle lightings at most public events and workplaces, and if you are going to a private lighting at the home of friends or family, it is totally acceptable to leave work at 3 or 4 p.m. in the afternoon--and no eyebrows will be raised if this occurs several times during the holiday.
At the communal lighting I organized in my building on Hanukkah last year, I was glad to see several people who obviously had left work early in order to make it to our apartment by 6 p.m. When I explained that we followed the Ashkenazi custom and that everyone could light a menorah (traditionally, Sephardim just have one menorah per household), I was happy to see that all present wanted to light—and knew the blessings in Hebrew. Okay, okay, so the Israeli melody for Hanukkah candle-lighting is not as good (to my ears) as the American one, and many Israelis mistakenly say “amen” at the end of their own blessing (a redundancy), but the point is: here was a group of primarily secular Israelis engaged in the key religious ritual of the holiday. Who wudda thunk it? Even without any association with Christmas, Hanukkah has achieved fabulous popularity in Israel. Maybe there is something special about this holiday after all. Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah with his wife, former Omahan Saraj Jane Ross, and their five children, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie, Ezra, and Elie, all of whom are veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@gmail.com.
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I celebrate Hanukkah — but here’s why I love Christmas
Customers shop for the holidays at Joy, a small Tel Aviv store that sells Christmas and New Year's merchandise. The store has been repeatedly heckled for selling Christian goods. Credit: Ben Sales
BEN SALES JTA All I want for Hanukkah is Christmas. I grew up in suburban Chicago surrounded by my fellow Jews — at school, at camp, on the weekends, at my parents’ friends’ houses, in the streets and parks of my neighborhood. Even then, I knew that Jews made up less
than 2 percent of America’s population — but in my childhood world, we were the 99 percent. If you had stopped 11-year-old me on the street and asked, I could have recited lengthy Hebrew prayers by heart, or told you about the codifying of Jewish law in 200 C.E. But when it came to Christianity, I had a basic See Why I love Christmas page A12
Michael Halsted, MD Peter Whitted, MD, JD Mark Emig, MD Teri Geist, OD Martin Mizener, MD Scott Greder, OD Mindy Dickinson, OD David Ingvoldstad, MD Jill Grennan, MD
Abigail Jackson, OD Michael Feilmeier, MD Krystal Wells, OD Matt Willis, OD Matt Appenzeller, MD Rachel Mercer, MD Jesse Himebaugh, MD Zachary Brown, OD
Eye on Israel Report with date/time adjustments
bring verses from Isaiah into the discussion MARK KIRCHHOFF in a very meaningful way. Those few words Community Engagement and Education On Monday, Nov. 9, Rabbi Yoni Dreyer con- brought added depth to the entire discussion tinued the Eye on Israel series that had its and produced that quiet “aha” response from origins in 2013. This initial session was on participants that indicates they developed a the second Monday of the new insight into world month. The regularly events. scheduled days are to be Rabbi Yoni is the assistant on the first Monday of rabbi at Beth Israel Synaevery month. However, gogue. As a teacher, he please take note. Because firmly believes in promotof a conflict, the Deceming active involvement and ber session will once participation by all. “Lecagain be on the second turing is not what I do,” he Monday, Dec. 14, with a emphasized. “I like to teach permanent start time when everyone is active in change to noon. Barring the discussion. He is any future scheduling preparing the topic for Dec. conflicts, all subsequent 14 and inviting you to mark sessions will be held on your calendar and joining the first Monday of the him at noon. Then, plan on month at noon. These are being in the habit of particall virtual sessions. ipating on the first Monday Rabbi Yoni Dreyer In his initial November of every month beginsession, Rabbi Yoni chose to discuss Israel’s ning Jan. 4. new relationships and agreements with UAE The Zoom link for “Eye on Israel” is located (United Arab Emirates) and other countries. on the Community Engagement & EducaHe began the session with a broad look at the tion page of the Jewish Federation of countries in the area who are “in play.” He Omaha’s website. Go to jewishomaha.org then facilitated a discussion among the par- and click on “Community & Education” in ticipants to explore what was at stake and the upper left corner. You will be taken to the what motivations each country might have page for registering. Scroll down and click on to establish stronger ties. Then “Eye on Is- the text, REGISTER HERE to complete the rael” became more than a news analysis. registration process. Once you receive the Rabbi Yoni placed the current circumstances Zoom link, you may save it. It is the only one in the context of Israel’s history. Part of that you will need for all of the sessions. If you history has been the relationship Jewish peo- need assistance with the logistics, contact ple have with the Bible. It should not come Mark Kirchhoff at mkirchhoff@jewishom as a surprise that Rabbi Yoni was able to aha.org or 402.334.6463.
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Flexner’s name removed from medical award due to his racist and sexist views sure of a broad swath of schools, including most of those that BEN SALES JTA educated Black people and women. This led to disproportionThe name of a Jewish educator called the “father” of modern ately low numbers of Black doctors, according to the American Association of Medical medical education is being reColleges, as well as barriers to moved from a prestigious award women advancing in medicine. because of the racist and sexist The Flexner Report also conviews espoused in his work. tained racist and sexist stateThe Abraham Flexner Award ments. He wrote that women had been given for more than “show a decreasing inclination 60 years by the American Assoto enter” medical school and ciation of Medical Colleges to a have “obvious limitations. Black person or group that advanced people, he wrote, should be medical education. The award “sanitarians” rather than dochonored Flexner, a Jewish edutors and should focus on precator at the turn of the 20th venting disease in white people. century who wrote a report revThe award will now be called olutionizing medical schools in the AAMC Award for Excelthe United States. lence in Medical Education, the In 1910, in what became known as the Flexner Report, group announced at its annual meeting this month. he wrote that medical schools “Just as we recognize the posshould raise their admissions itive impact that Flexner had on standards, follow the scientific modern medical education, we method and receive oversight also can no longer ignore the from state boards. He proposed Abraham Flexner negative repercussions of a model, still in wide use today, of two years of medical education followed by two years of Flexner’s words and work,” said Alison Whelan, the association’s chief medical education officer. clinical training. But the standards recommended by Flexner led to the clo-
Former Omahan spoke at B’nai Israel CAROLE LAINOF Former Omahan Oliver Pollak now of Richmond, CA gave the D’Var Torah for the Nov. 13 Friday night service via ZOOM for B’nai Israel. His presentation was titled Eternal Rest? - the Cave of Patriarchs, Nebraska Farmland and Biker Cholim He tied all this together citing the Shabbat Torah portion when Abraham purchased the burial site for Sarah, the Cave of Machpelah, from the Hittites, now in present day Hebron. Oliver was challenged by losing his electricity just before the service began! However he persevered with computer batteries and a flashlight and everyone enjoyed his insightful message from an old friend who is very much missed in all our Jewish Community.
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He stated that his first D’Var Torah at B’nai was in 1996 under very different circumstances. Oliver and Karen retired to California in 2016 where he continues to pursue his interest in Jewish history, food, law, printing, Myanmar and Zimbabwe. In Omaha he co-founded the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and is a member of the Institute for Historical Study. Oliver can be contacted at obpomini@ gmail.com.
ORGANIZATIONS B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS The Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith is pleased to announce the resumption of its award-winning speaker program via ZOOM. Although the Home auditorium remains temporarily closed, we’ll continue presenting an outstanding lineup of thought-provoking keynoters. For specific speaker information and/or to be placed on the email list, please contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com or leave a message at the BB JCC office 402.334.6443.
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Why I love Christmas
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Hanukkah presents, too. They have tinsel? Continued from page A10 idea of what Easter was, and could have prob- Sure, we’ll have tinsel, too. They have holiday ably provided a brief bio of Jesus, culled mostly sweaters? Sure, we’ll have those, too. from popular culture. That was about it. Just as I can enjoy the Christmas spirit beUntil December rolled around, that is. cause I don’t feel personally invested in the Christmas was inescapable — and I loved it. I holiday, I feel disappointed in Hanukkah prestill do. Christmas is everywhere. It’s at the malls, in the candy aisle of the grocery store, on the radio and TV, and in the movie theater. And I get how it can all be overwhelming. I understand how it’s a bit much for people to be bombarded starting from Thanksgiving — make that Halloween — with carols and candy canes and Santa and reindeer and manger scenes and ornaments and mistletoe and trees. And I know that for lots of people, it’s bit much how every- The writer at a Christmas party in 2008. Credit: Ben Sales thing is red and green, especially if it’s not cisely because I am invested in it. And in any even your holiday. Plus — on an intellectual case, Hanukkah is a minor holiday. I don’t belevel, at least — I object to the commercial- grudge its significance for anyone, but in Jewism, the conspicuous consumption and the ish tradition it’s treated as less important than tackiness of it all. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover and a But if I’m being honest: I love the tackiness. couple others. I love the manufactured happiness. I love feelThat’s why, in Israel, where I lived for five ing snow on my shoulders, walking into a years, Hanukkah is certainly celebrated, but heated cafe, sipping hot cider and hearing a doesn’t receive top billing. There are decoraChristmas song — probably written by a Jew- tions, menorahs in the windows and sufish composer — on the speakers. I love the ganiyot — doughnuts filled with jelly or contrast between the terrible weather and the cream — on bakery shelves. Kids get a few enveloping cheer, however artificial it is. I love days off to sing and play. Giving Hanukkah being able to enjoy the Christmas spirit with- presents isn’t really a thing there. out having to worry about how it affects the Contrast that with the season that runs way I celebrate Christmas. from Rosh Hashanah through Sukkot and Because I don’t celebrate Christmas. See, Simchat Torah, a series of festivals and holiwe Jews have our own winter festival — it’s days that ended several weeks ago. In Israel, called Hanukkah. before Rosh Hashanah, supermarkets are Don’t get me wrong: I like Hanukkah. But in stocked with apples, honey and pomegranAmerica, it’s kind of weak sauce. If Christmas ates, and temporary stands sell greeting cards is a thick, juicy hamburger on a sesame bun, on the sidewalks. On Yom Kippur, the streets American Jews have tried to make Hanukkah and shops are all closed. Religious people into a black-bean burger — something that’s wear white and gravitate en masse to synaperfectly edible but, really, nothing like the gogue, while those who aren’t fasting crowd real deal. Hanukkah, like black beans, would the empty streets with bikes. On Sukkot, there be fine as its own separate thing. But instead are temporary huts seemingly everywhere, we’ve flattened it into a cheap imitation of from people’s porches to public squares. something else. For close to a month, little business gets I’m Jewish, so of course I celebrate done. Need to schedule a meeting or start a Hanukkah. I’m down with the story, the vic- work project? “After the holidays” is the comtory of the weak over the strong, the faith ful- mon refrain. The Jewish holidays there are celfilled when a small flask of oil lasted eight ebrated on their own merits, not judged days. I’ve even nerded out over the two alter- against the overwhelming dominance of annate Hebrew spellings of “Maccabee” and how other religion’s season. they correspond to today’s religious-secular So spare me your Chrismukkah and your divide in Israel. Hanukkah bush, and let me culturally enjoy But I’ve never liked how American the most wonderful time of the year the way Hanukkah in certain ways becomes a diluted, America clearly wants me to. Jewish version of Christmas. So the Christians After all, if Bob Dylan can rock out to an give presents for Christmas? Sure, we’ll give album’s worth of Christmas music, so can I.
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Hanukkah in 1949
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JTA Dec. 2, 1949, a group of 55 Polish Jews, the first to arrive since the institution of the new Polish Government policy facilitating emigration of Israel-bound Jews, landed at Haifa where they were greeted by a large crowd of relatives, friends and representatives of various institutions in Israel. Some of the immigrants declared that half of the Jews in Poland are preparing to come to Israel. The following day, another 260 Polish Jews were expected. The Jewish Agency estimated that beginning in January 1950, approximately 1,500 men, women and children will arrive in Israel from Poland each month. The immigration movement of Yemenite Jews is expected to be completed by the end of January or the middle of February, Itzhak Raphael, Agency immigration official, declared in Jerusalem. He estimated that there were only about 6,000 Yemenite Jews left in Yemen or Aden. Mr. Raphael also announced that the entire country will celebrate the passing of the 1,000,000-population-mark on Dec. 19, midway through the Hanukkah festival. The day has been designated “In-Gathering of the Exiles Day” and the festivities will include the traditional Hanukkah torch-bearing marathon from Nodin, birthplace of the Maccabee revolution against the Syrians, to Jerusalem. Dec. 19, three huge Hanukkah menorahs were lighted on heights surrounding the city of Jerusalem as Jews throughout the world ushered in the eight-day Festival of Lights which historically marks the Macabbean revolt against the GraecoSyrians over 2,000 years ago. The ceremony of the lighting of the outdoor candelabra marked not only the Jewish battle for independence centuries ago, but also their recent blows for freedom in establishing a state, beating off the Arab invaders and, more recently, announcing continuance of the transfer of the seat of the government to this city despite the U.N. decision to place
Jerusalem under an international trusteeship. The Menorahs were placed on Mt. Zion, to the south of the city; on Mt. Scopus, to the east; and on Herzl Hill, to the west. The huge torches were lighted from a torch which had been lighted at Modiin, site of the opening encounter of the Macabbee revolt, and borne throughout the country by runners. The runners halted at Rehovoth, during the marathon, where they were greeted by President Weizmann. Later, the runners were greeted by vast throngs at Tel Aviv. Outside of Tel Aviv they were met by a cavalcade of friendly Arab sheikhs mounted on horses, who escorted them for a distance. Four thousand members of the Gadna (youth battalions) will participate in a four-day torch relay race scheduled to end at Herzl Hill on Wednesday. Premier David Ben Gurion and Chief of Staff. Brig. Yigal Yadin will address the youths. a torch will be lit in Tel Hai, and another in Tirat Zvi. Three flambeaux were fired tonight in Yehiem and Dagania. Celebration of “Yom Kibbutz Galuyoth”–“Day of the Ingathering of the Exiles”–concluded later in December with the landing at Lydda Airport of three planes carrying Jewish immigrants from three different parts of the world. One craft arrived from Aden with Yemenite Jews bringing with them ancient Scrolls of the Law and singing traditional Hanukkah songs as they alighted from the plane. A second plane brought a group of Iranian and Iraqi Jews from Teheran while the third landed with immigrants from India. The new arrivals were welcomed by a huge turnout of Israelis, including members of the Cabinet and the Knesset, and were given a holiday meal at the specially-decorated airport restaurant. The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
From my family to yours, we wish you a happy Hanukkah. Email: mayors-office.cityofomaha.org | www.facebook.com/jean.stothert/ | twitter.com/Jean_Stothert Paid for by Jean Stothert for Omaha Committee, 5909 S. 118th Plaza, Omaha, NE 68137
A14 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
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Clash of two Hanukkahs: Jewish exceptionalism vs. assimilation
MICHAEL BERNSTEIN ALPHARETTA, Ga. | JTA Two holidays with very different meanings are colliding this holiday season — not Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, but Hanukkah and Hanukkah. Let me explain. The first version of Hanukkah is the classic one often trotted out to remind us that this isn’t just a winter holiday of gift giving with a Jewish flavor. In this telling, a small band of Maccabees defeats Antiochus and the mighty Greeks. A miracle marks their victory as one day’s supply of oil lasting for eight days. The darkness of the Greek veneration of physicality and materialism is vanquished by the light of the Jews’ faith in their eternal Torah. In this version, Hanukkah is a testament against assimilation. It would seem ironic, then, that Jews in America celebrate Hanukkah by shoehorning it into the larger consumer-oriented celebration of Christmas with our own blue-andwhite colored lights, gifts and holiday parties. But there is another story of Hanukkah that is as much about how the holiday over the centuries has reflected the larger cultural milieu in which it was celebrated. Hanukkah, like the Jews who celebrate it, has undergone radical changes. The story of Hanukkah began as a military revolt that led to Jewish self-government. But only a few generations after the rebellion, the Hasmonean dynasty came to be viewed as deleterious to the Jews. Against this back-
ground came the first mention of the miracle of the oil and the establishment of Hanukkah by the Jewish sages as an eight-day holiday beginning on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev that uses the kindling of lights to publicize the miracle. The inspiration for these lights may have been Saturnalia, an eight-day Greco-Roman festival that marked the winter solstice with gifts and the lighting of candles, symbolizing wisdom and beckoning the return of the sun. Saturnalia also may have influenced the way Christmas, observed on the 25th of December, developed as a time of gift giving and lights. The very language that would be used later to frame Hanukkah as a triumph of the spirit over the body would not have become part of the Jewish lexicon without Plato and Aristotle. There is no real evidence in Jewish teachings of a split between mortal body and everlasting soul until Greek thought makes its way into centers of rabbinic learning and eventually, through Arabic sources, serves as a basis for medieval Jewish philosophy. Perhaps the holiday’s greatest irony comes
from Israel, where the name of the Maccabees is used for the Maccabiah, the socalled Jewish Olympics, even though the Maccabees vehemently opposed the Greek focus on physical prowess. Even the manner of lighting our candles has been subject to outside influences. The Talmud makes clear that the proper placement of the candles was outside one’s home, where they could best broadcast the miracle of the Hanukkah story to Jewish passers-by. However, in dangerous times, the Talmud notes, it is “sufficient to place them on a table” indoors. During the Middle Ages, rabbinic authorities increasingly relied on that leniency, and the Hanukkah menorah went from being about publicizing the miracle to outsiders to a practice whose audience was predominantly one’s own family. In America, despite unprecedented Jewish safety and acceptance, most of us continue to light the menorah indoors. Yet we have found new ways to publicize the story of Hanukkah to our neighbors with mega-menorahs in public squares, blue-and-white lights decorat-
ing our homes and electric menorahs in building lobbies. Part of the miracle of Hanukkah in America could be the miracle of assimilation — not assimilation as a measure of an individual getting lost in the larger culture, but as an opportunity to incorporate key elements of the larger culture while remaining strongly and unabashedly Jewish. It is incredible that a relatively small people could survive for so many generations, transmitting sacred creeds, texts and practices. Yet our survival was not accomplished by remaining pure and separate but by embracing the possibilities in society as a whole. In America, Hanukkah, once synonymous with zealous religious practice, now takes its turn standing for religious freedom and justice. This is not to say that these themes are artificial or alien. They are part of the same Jewish cloth that always has been interwoven with the influences around it, whether in Athens, Rome or Plymouth Rock. With Hanukkah falling close to Thanksgiving some years, we have found a new way to meld our holiday with that of the larger culture. The ocassional “Thanksgivukkah” gives us a new opportunity to teach, invite and “make public” our Festival of Lights and to showcase our Jewish pride along with it. Rabbi Michael Bernstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Gesher L’Torah in Alpharetta, Ga.
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | A15
Hanukkah in 1954
JTA The Denver school system, in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith, has issued a revised teacher’s manual, “December Festivals,” on Hanukkah-Christmas joint celebrations in the public schools. The Joint Advisory Committee of the Synagogue Council of America and the National Community Relations Advisory Council has been on record since 1950 in opposition to religious and joint religious holiday observances in the public schools as a violation of the traditional American principle of the separation of church and state. In a foreword to the manual, Kenneth Oberholtzer, Superintendent of Schools, said that “December can be a month of great understanding for Christian and Jewish children alike.” He said that the schools “can teach that religion is sacred and that the only attitude we have toward it is one of reverence – remembering that we are talking about religion and not religious indoctrination.” In referring to ADL cooperation in the joint holidays program, the Intermountain Jewish News said: “Denver ADL leaders candidly admit they are experimenting and taking a few years to arrive at a decision who is right – the Synagogue Council-NCRAC Committee or those trying to work out Hanukkah-Christmas plays and pageants as a means of showing children what they have in common and how they differ and why they must live together as Americans in diversity of religion.” The sum of $100,000 was raised at the 21st annual Jewish National Fund Hanukkah Banquet in Los Angeles. An additional $50,000 was pledged for a special JNF project by the Chaim Weizmann Zionist District. Some 1,000 persons attended the banquet. Rabbi Irving Miller, chairman of the American Zionist Council, was the featured speaker.
The observance of Hanukkah was begun in Israel with the lighting of a torch at Modin, birthplace of the Maccabees, where the revolt against the Graeco-Syrians began some 2,100 years ago. The torch was carried to Jerusalem by a relay of runners, the last of whom handed the torch to President Itzhak Ben Zvi at his residence here. Later, at a ceremony on Mt. Zion, the torch was used to light the first Hanukkah candle on a public menorah and to light the candles on a giant menorah in memorial memory of the various Jewish communities wiped out by the Nazis. The memorial menorah was mounted on a vehicle and was taken on a tour of the settlements in Israel. For the first time in the history of Boston University, joint Hanukkah-Christmas festivities were held in the University Chapel, while the main plaza of the University was decorated with a huge Christmas tree and a 10foot-high brass menorah. The joint Hanukkah-Christmas Sing was arranged by the Boston University Brotherhood Council. Words to all songs were flashed on a large screen as choral groups of Boston University sang Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs which included Mooz Tsur, Al Hanissim and Mi Y’Mallel. Mark Finer, chairman of the Hillel dramatics committee, read the story of Hanukkah. Military attaches of many nations attended a Hanukkah party given at the Israel Embassy. A number of American generals and other high-ranking officials attended in addition to military attaches from virtually all countries. The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
Happy Hanukkah May the Miracle of Hanukkah bring light and warmth to you, your family and friends this holiday season
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Hanukkah in the 1970s JTA December 1, 1970, a capacity audience of 20.000 persons filled Madison Square Garden for the first performance of the 1970 Hanukkah Festival for Israel Bonds and heard a report from William Goldfine, honorary chairman of the New York drive, that $37,204,000 in Israel Bonds have been sold in the metropolitan area thus far this year. Mr. Goldfine said that “this year’s Bond receipts represent the greatest total sold in New York in the entire history of the campaign, except for 1967. the year of the Six-Day War.” He added that “this result gives encouraging evidence that the Jewish people of New York, like the Jews throughout the United States and the rest of the free world, are united in their determination to see Israel live.” Since its inception twenty years ago, the total proceeds from the sale of Israel Bonds has amounted to approximately $1.6 billion. Abraham Feinberg, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Israel Bond Organization, said that “an Israel stifled, unable to grow, unable to develop, unable to absorb the millions who still must come, would be unthinkable. An Israel which can give full scope to the energy, to the creativity, to the ambition, the dynamism of its people, is the goal we have dreamed about together. To protect that dream,” he declared, “we must for the year 1971 accept the greatest challenge to our sense of responsibility in our time. It will not be easy. But it has never been easy. It was not easy in 1948, or in 1956, or in 1967.” Mr. Feinberg was referring to the projected goal of $400 million for the world-wide campaign for Israel Bonds in 1971. Outstanding American and Israeli theatre, motion picture and concert artists who participated in the Hanukkah Festival last night included Alan King, Edward G. Robinson, Theodore Bikel, Jan Peerce, Nehama Lifschitz, Harra Aroni and Pinchas Zukerman. December 18, 1974, JTA ran the following: This was the week of Hanukkah, and in the old tradition, runners carried torches from the Maccabean birthplace, Modiin, to the four corners of the land. Their message was timeless–victory of freedom over tyranny and repression. But the Hanukkah torches also symbolized the continuity of Jewish history in the land of Israel. How remarkable is the similarity between our generation and that of the Maccabees. Both represented the struggle of the few against the many Both generations were called upon to restore the sovereignty of Israel. The Maccabeans were worried about the soul. Jews were prohibited from exercising their religious rites and customs, and since there can be no soul without a physical existence, the task of the Maccabees was to free the sovereign state from its occupiers so that Jews could continue to live according to their laws. Our generation fought for the establishment of the State first and foremost to assure the continued physical survival of the Jewish nation. After the holocaust, there was an urgent need to find a haven for the remnant of European Jews and for Jews in the Oriental countries who lived in constant fear of extermination.
It is interesting that Hanukkah, in the form that it has been kept throughout the generations, is centered on a rather marginal event–the miracle of the cruse of oil that burned unreplenished in the Temple for eight days. The Talmud has a great deal to say about the High Holy Days and the great festivals of pilgrimage–Succoth, Passover and Shavuot. But it mentions Hanukkah only in passing. When it speaks of lighting the Sabbath candles it states that the Hanukkah candles should be kindled before those of the Sabbath. Thus it seems to stress that the battles waged by the Hasmoneans had more religious than political implications. December 6, 1977, a Hanukkah menorah, 30 feet high by 24 feet wide, was lit in Manhattan’s Grand Army Plaza at 59th St. and Fifth Ave., one of the city’s busiest crossroads. Several thousand people were present to watch the lighting ceremony. The Lubavitch Youth Organization, sponsor of the menorah, said it was the largest ever built. A Lubavitcher representative was hoisted by a cherrypicker crane to light the one-foot high candle which is enclosed in glass to enable it to burn through the night. Rabbi Shmuel Butman, director of the youth group, said the purpose of the project was to give the people of New York “the opportunity to enjoy the flavor and spirit of the Festival of Lights.” The menorah will be lit every night during Hanukkah with an additional candle being added each night until all eight candles are lit. On December 14, 1979, JTA reported that “Hanukkah in Washington is different this year.” Starting tomorrow night, a towering electric “National Hanukkah Menorah” will glow in Lafayette Park directly opposite the White House in the traditional numerical order for eight successive days in celebration of the Festival of Lights. Erection of the all-steel menorah was completed last night and successfully tested in the presence of Lubavitcher Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, who supervised the project sponsored by the American Friends of Lubavitch; the menorah’s designer, Gunther Kilshiemer, a Berlin refugee from Nazism; and a reporter for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Washington’s menorah, fabricated with gold painted square tubing and weighing 5000 pounds, is the nation’s largest, Shemtov said . Its 30-foot-high base is surmounted by a triangle of nine lights, each four feet high, with the top of the “Shamus” the centered light 36 feet above ground. A special ceremony of lighting will take place the fourth night of Hanukkah with government and community leaders participating. The menorah will be turned on each evening at dusk and glow until midnight during the holiday. The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
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Above and below: In honor of Marvin Kohll’s 90th birthday, the Kohll family generously donated food for all three shifts from Mama’s Pizza. Staff and Residents also enjoyed German chocolate cake, which is Marvin’s favorite. Happy birthday Marvin!
Top, above and below: On Wednesday, RBJH staff wore purple for National Dementia Awareness month.
SP O TLIGHT
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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.
Below: Before learning went remote, Friedel students displayed their creations from art class.
Above: Laura Kirshenbaum strikes a pose outside Temple Israel.
Synagogues
A18 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 712.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE
Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Street Omaha, NE 68154-1980 402.492.8550 bethel-omaha.org
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street Omaha, NE. 68154 402.556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org
CHABAD HOUSE
An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street Omaha, NE 68144-1646 402.330.1800 OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com
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
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
B’NAI ISRAEL Join us via Zoom on Friday, Dec. 11, 7:30 p.m. for evening services. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel! For information on our historic synagogue, please contact Howard Kutler at hkutler@hotmail.com or any of our other board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Mary-Beth Muskin and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
BETH EL Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. VIRTUAL MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9 a.m. and Mondays and Thursdays, 8 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Shabbat Lunch To-Go Pick Up, 10 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m.; Guest Speaker — Kyra Shuster, 11:15 a.m.; Virtual Kiddush lunch following services and speaker, 11:45 a.m.; Havdalah, 5:35 p.m. SUNDAY: Torah Study, 10 a.m.; BESTT (Grades K7), 10 a.m. MONDAY: Jewish Law with Rabbi Abraham, 8 p.m. TUESDAY: Biblical Literacy with Rabbi Abraham, 11:30 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Coffee and Conversations with Rabbi Abraham, 2 p.m.; BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:30 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Shul Music with Hazzan Krausman, 7 p.m. FRIDAY-Dec. 11: Hanukkah To-Go Pick Up, 10 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY-Dec. 12: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m.; Bar Mitzvah of Joshua Shapiro; Havdalah and Hanukkah Candlelighting, 6 p.m. in Beth El’s Parking Lot. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.
BETH ISRAEL Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. Classes, Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah on Zoom, Whatsapp or Facebook Live. On site services held outside in Sukkah, weather permitting. Physical distancing and masks required. FRIDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:37 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha, 4:40 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:41 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Jewish Law in Depth, 9:45 a.m. with Rabbi Moshe; Kids Crafts & Class, 12:15 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m. MONDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Min-
cha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m. TUESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m.; Board of Directors Meeting, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom; THURSDAY-Erev Hanukkah: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Shacharit, 9 am.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.; Candlelighting with Rabbi Ari, Laura and family, 6 p.m. via Zoom. FRIDAY-Dec. 11: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Candlelighting, 4:38 p.m. SATURDAY-Dec. 12: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha, 4:40 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:42 p.m. Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.
CHABAD HOUSE Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Due to Coronavirus, all services and classes have moved online. For schedules and more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.org or call the office at 402.330.1800. FRIDAY: Lechayim, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi Blotner; Candlelighting, 4:37 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Ends, 5:40 p.m. MONDAY: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani Katzman; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Professor David Cohen. WEDNESDAY: Mystical Thinking, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Professor David Cohen; Introduction to Hebrew Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Professor David Cohen. THURSDAY: Advanced Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. with Professor David Cohen; Talmud Class, noon with Rabbi Katzman; Fun with Yiddish, 1 p.m. with Shani Katzman; Kids in the Kitchen, 4 p.m. with Mushka B. and Bubby. FRIDAY-Dec. 11: Lechayim, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi Blotner; Candlelighting, 4:37 p.m. SATURDAY-Dec. 12: Shabbat Ends, 5:41 p.m.
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL Virtual services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. FRIDAY: Candlelighting, 4:41 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex, Steve and Nathaniel Kaup, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Felch via Zoom; Torah Study on Parashat Vayishlach, 11:30 a.m. via Zoom; Havdalah (72 minutes), 5:44 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan-Gesher, 10 a.m. via Zoom; Adult Ed: Intro to Judaism with Rabbi Alex, 11:30 a.m. via Zoom; South Street Temple Annual Meeting, 2:30 p.m. with via Zoom. MONDAY: Star City Kochavim Rehearsal and Recording Session, 6:45 p.m.; Makers of Jewish Things, 7 p.m. via Zoom. TUESDAY: Synagogue Staff Meeting, 10 a.m.; Tea & Coffee with Pals, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom; Adult Ed: The Whys (Wise) of Jewish Prayer, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Alex via Zoom. WEDNESDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 4:30 p.m. via Zoom. THURSDAY-Erev Hanukkah: Light One Candle at 5:45 p.m. FRIDAY-Hanukkah Dec. 11: Candlelighting, 4:41 p.m.; Light Two Candles at 4:41 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex, Leslie Delserone and Peter Mullin, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. SATURDAY-Hanukkah Dec. 12: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Felch via Zoom; Torah Study on Parashat Vayeshev, 11:30 a.m. via Zoom; Light Three Candles at 5:45 p.m.; Havdalah (72 minutes), 5:45 p.m.; Community Virtual Hanukkah Celebration, 6 p.m. via Zoom.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE All services canceled until further notice.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME
The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is currently closed to visitors.
TEMPLE ISRAEL
Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Brian Stoller, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin and Cantor Joanna Alexander. DAILY VIRTUAL MINYAN: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. SUNDAY: Blood Drive, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Youth Learning Programs for Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Temple Tots, 10 a.m. MONDAY: Jewish Law & the Quest for Meaning, 11 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Mindful Meditation with Margot, 9 a.m.; Youth Learning Programs for Grades 3-12; Community Beit Midrash, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Discussion, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel; First Night, First Light Hanukkah Celebration, 7 p.m. FRIDAY-Dec. 11: Hanukkah Service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY-Dec. 12: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Bar Mitzvah of Zachary Kazor, 10:30 a.m. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
SCOTUS strikes down COVID restrictions on synagogues SHIRA HANAU JTA The Supreme Court blocked government restrictions on houses of worship imposed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a late-night ruling Wednesday, Nov. 25. Deciding two cases at once — one brought by Agudath Israel, an umbrella organization representing haredi Orthodox Jews, and one brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn — the court ruled that restrictions placed on New York’s “red zones” with high COVID test positivity rates unfairly discriminated against houses of worship. The decision, which split 5-4, was the first in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed last month, gave the conservatives a majority. The conservative justices were convinced by the argument that pandemic restrictions should not be stricter for religious institutions than for secular ones. “It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen
ange zones, where restrictions are slightly less strict than in red zones, services are capped at 25 attendees. While nonessential businesses were shuttered in red zones, those that were allowed to remain open were not subject to the same capacity limits as houses of worship. The liberal justices argued that the restrictions did not constitute religious discrimination, with Chief Justice John Roberts noting that it would be “a significant matter” to overturn restrictions meant to safeguard public health during a pandemic. A view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, Agudath Israel brought its case to the D.C., Dec. 4, 2017. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images court after a federal judge in New York liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, ruled against it. The two synagogues named in the synagogues and mosques,” Justice Neil Gorsuch lawsuit are no longer subject to the restrictions bewrote in a concurring opinion. Both petitions were cause their neighborhoods no longer have espebrought after parts of Brooklyn were made into cially high test positivity rates, a fact that two of the “red zones” under a state plan implemented last dissenting justices cited in their opinion. Still, the month. In red zones, houses of worship are only al- group said it was grateful for a ruling that could set lowed to have up to 10 people attending services at a new precedent for religious liberty cases in the once, regardless of the capacity of the space. In or- country.
Life cycles BAR MITZVAH
ZACHARY MADDOX KAZOR Zachary Maddox Kazor, son of Michelle and Stu Kazor, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on Dec. 12, 2020 at Temple Israel via Zoom. Zac is a seventh-grade honor roll student at Buffett Magnet Middle School. He has been on the Honor Roll at school for the last three years. Zac is a Third Degree Level 1 Black Belt In Taekwondo and has won numerous medals in District and National Taekwondo tournaments.. He also plays soccer with SOFC, and plays the violin. Zac loves to swim, and enjoys gaming, hanging out with his friends, and is a huge fan of Jurassic Park movies and the Carolina Panthers football team. For his Mitzvah project, Zac assisted with a week-long Taekwondo camp for children over the summer. He mentored them not only by teaching Taekwondo skills, but by also demonstrating self defense tactics and life skills coaching. He has three sisters, Emily, Elizabeth and Sophie. Grandparents are Louie and Renee Kazor of Omaha, and Bill and Peggy Kolm of Omaha. Great-grandparents are Alice Kwapiszeski and the late Edward Kwapiszeski of Panama, IA, the late Morrie and Mollie Franklin of
Omaha, the late Rose and Louie Kazor of Omaha, and the late Mildred and William Kolm of Schuyler, NE. JOSHUA LEWIS SHAPIRO Joshua Lewis Shapiro, son of Melissa and Matt Shapiro, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Beth El Synagogue via Livestream. Joshua is a seventh-grade honors student at Beveridge Magnet Middle School and was a member of the school’s QuizBowl team. Joshua is President-Elect of the Beveridge Thespian Society and has acted in shows at the Omaha Community Playhouse, the JCC and Beveridge. He enjoys acting, singing, tennis, playing piano and attending Herzl Camp. For his mitzvah project, Joshua built a Little Free Library to share his love for reading with his neighborhood and will maintain it for years to come. He has a brother, Evan, and a sister, Lea. Grandparents are Sherry and Larry Shapiro and Barb and Jeff Shapiro. Surviving great-grandparents are Betty and Ben Shapiro, and Marilyn Shapiro.
IN MEMORIAM JANICE ROSEN HARRIS Janice Rosen Harris passed away on Nov. 19 at age 90. Due to the pandemic, services were private. She was preceded in death by beloved husband, Sheldon “Shelly” Harris; parents, Joseph and Rachel Rosen; brother, Richard Rosen; sister-in-law, Eleanor Greenberg; brother-in-law, Henry Greenberg; and nephew, Justin Greenberg. She is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, James and Marti Harris of Omaha, Thomas and Barbara Harris of Northbrook, IL,
Stephen and Magi Harris of Breckenridge,CO, and daughter and son-in-law, Nancy and Pete Godwin of Omaha; grandchildren: Leanne and Austin, Zachary and Mary Kate, Joseph, Madeleine, Jacob and Ellie, Andrew, Sam, Brandon, Katy; great-grandchildren: Hudson and Rory; and niece and nephew, Midge and Bill Bowers of Omaha. Memorials may be made to Ethan Wolfe Recreational Assistance Program c/o CHARGE Syndrome Foundation, 318 Half Day RD #305, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 or the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo.
22% of hate crimes in Europe in 2019 were against Jews, report shows CNAAN LIPSHIZ JTA Anti-Semitic incidents accounted for 22% of hate crimes recorded last year in the pan-European region, though Jews comprise less than 1% of the population there. The data on hate crimes comes from a report about 5,954 incidents recorded in Europe, Russia and Central Asia by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, or ODHIR, of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, ODHIR said in its annual report published last week. The report is based on data transmitted by governments and watchdog groups. Of the total incidents, 1,311 were anti-Semitic, according to the the report titled 2019 Hate Crime Data. Anti-Semitism was the category with the second-largest number of incidents after the 2,371 incidents in the more general Racism and Xenophobia category. Those targeted for their gender or sexual orientation (1,277 cases) made up the third-highest group, followed by Christians (573) and Muslims (507). In one anti-Semitic incident recorded in the report, a woman had her hair and hat pulled violently from behind
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor, My ancestors on the Schatz family lived in Omaha in the 1890s and 1900s. I’ve tracked them down and am in contact with most of them. (we actually never lost touch.) The one who I can’t find — and I’m wondering if any readers have access to someone who might be able to help me — is my great-grandfather Feivel Scharf, (he changed his name to Philip Scharf, or Sharf, and was listed as Philip Sharf, clerk, in the 1908 Omaha Residents Directory.) The one thing I know about him is that he had a dance studio in Omaha in the 1890s, and presumably the 1900s. How many dance studios catering to Jews could there have been in Omaha in the 1890’s and 1900s run by someone named Scharf, I wonder? If I can track down anything about that dance studio, I can track down information about him! He’s the one missing link in my family tree. We think he may have remarried and we have cousins we don’t know of. Any information about names of Jewish Omaha residents and businesses at the turn of the century, or anyone who knows of any Scharfs who lived there back then, I’d be so grateful to hear from you. Please email me at schatzben@aol.com. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions you can offer! BENJAMIN SCHATZ
while speaking Hebrew on the bus in Berlin, Germany. In another, an Iraqi Muslim man wearing a kippah and carrying several concealed knives was intercepted by guards attempting to enter an Antwerp synagogue in June. The man had used anti-Semitic insults at Jews before the incident. The report said its figures are not definitive and may in fact be lower than the number of hate crimes committed or recorded in Europe.
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | A19
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A20 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
BUILDING COMMUNITY
BY GIVING BACK
Happy Hanukkah
B1 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Hanukkah S EC T I ON 2
Komodo and Sulawesi: A Hanukkah tail RICH JURO Fran and I first journeyed to Indonesia about 35 years ago with a small group. There are 17,500 islands in Indonesia. We visited the large islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, and even Irian Jaya (the western part of the island of New Guinea that is a province of Indonesia). A lot occurred on the trip, but the strangest happenings were on Komodo and Sulawesi, which is why this true tale was written. KOMODO Komodo is a small island near Bali, about halfway between Singapore and Australia. It is home of the Komodo Dragon, the big monitor lizard, and the largest lizard on earth. It grows to about 150 pounds, 10 feet long, and can live 30 years. The dragon feeds mostly on Timor deer, with wild pigs and other smaller critters in its varied diet. Yes, it will occasionally eat humans. There have been 24 recorded attacks on people, one happening every couple of years. The first time we went to Komodo Island, we were escorted to a big enclosure with a sturdy seethrough metal fence. Then the park rangers took some raw meat, threw it over the fence, and we watched as the dragons came and devoured their food. It was fascinating to watch the big lizards open their mouths, extend their forked tongues, and start ripping away at their meal with their big jagged teeth. We went back a few years ago. It was a completely different experience. This time we went in small groups around the paths with a park ranger. We were looking for the dragons, hoping they were not looking for us. The authorities said not to worry: the
Credit: Kelly Marvella, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
rangers were armed with a wooden stick that they would poke the reptiles. Frankly, the stick was not very reassuring to us. As the dragons can run rapidly to catch their prey, we were not too calm. When we were told that the animals digest slowly, and only eat once a month, Fran and I wondered how we could tell if one of the big lizards was hungry or not. Would one of us be a dragon dinner? The
ranger did stand between us and the dragons we encountered, with his stick ready to defend us. When they were sleeping, we were told not to get too close, in case they woke up. When they were walking past us, we got out of the way. It was exciting to see them up close, especially when they were looking at us hungrily. Obviously, we survived. See Komodo and Sulawesi page B2
B2 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Hanukkah
Hanukkah facts
Komodo and Sulawesi
Continued from page B1 SULAWESI Sulawesi is a big island east of Borneo and south of the Philippines. Its name was Celebes before Indonesia achieved independence from Holland in 1949. We landed in Ujung Padang, a large city and one of the major ports of the country. It was formerly called Makassar, named for the infamous Makassar Straits where most ships have to brave the pirates on the route from Southeast Asia to India or Europe. After we left, the city was renamed Makassar in 1999, for reasons unknown. I don’t think it was because Western tourists could not remember “Ujung Padang” (it has a nice sound to it, don’t you think?). Our guide in Sulawesi was Ahmad. He was short with black hair, like most Indonesians, in his twenties, and spoke excellent English. Ahmad said he was a member of the ethnic Bugi (pronounced boogie, like the 20’s music). Centuries ago, the Bugis’ leader was none other than King Bone. That great leader helped the Dutch force out the Portuguese from Makassar, and it remained semi-independent for hundreds of years. Ahmad went on: “Most Bugis have always been rice farmers or seafarers. Bugis who were in maritime in the past either were regular sailors or cruel pirates. Bugi is where the term “boogey-
Credit: Chennaidl; licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Sulawesi effigies and tombs
man” came from. When English-speaking mothers were trying to scare their little kids, the mothers would say: ‘If you
don’t behave, the boogeyman will steal you away.’” See A Hanukkah tail page B3
SAM KRICSFELD • The Henry Ford, a museum that is named after a famed anti-Semite, has a “Hanukkah Lamp” (menorah) in its collection. The Henry Ford has tried to distance itself from its namesake’s anti-Semitic history. • Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have only overlapped four times since the declaration of Thanksgiving – 1863, 1888, 1899 and 2013. HANUKKAH AT THE WHITE HOUSE • In 1951, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion presented President Harry Truman a menorah on his birthday. The menorah dated back to at least the 18th century. • The menorah was borrowed from the Truman Presidential Library in 2008. The grandsons of both Truman and BenGurion lit the menorah at the White House. • President Jimmy Carter was the first president to publicly light a menorah, in 1979. • President Ronald Reagan was visited by Lubavitchers in 1984 and was presented with a menorah. They were asked by Reagan to stay a bit longer after the ceremony was over so that he could tell them about a Rabbi in the Navy. • The first time a menorah was lit inside the White House was in 1993, when President Bill Clinton hosted a menorahlighting with schoolchildren. One child’s ponytail caught fire, but Clinton used his hands to put it out. See Hanukkah facts page B5
Happy Hanukkah
Andy, Teresa, Max, & Chloe Ruback
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | B3
A Hanukkah tail
Happy Hanukkah from
The Lincoln Jewish Community Alex Felch, Rabbi Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Congregation Tifereth Israel The Jewish Federation of Lincoln
Chag Urim Sameach! Above: Sulawesi Torajan houses and below: A Sulawesi Big Snail
Continued from B2 We took off in the bus for the highlands of Sulawesi. We drove for hours on rutted, mucky roads. It rained a lot, even though it was supposed to be the dry season. All of a sudden, the bus stopped, and couldn’t go forward. It was stuck in the mud, and the tires just spun when the driver pressed on the gas pedal. So all of us got out, most of the women stood to the side, and the men pushed the bus while the driver stepped on the accelerator. I’m not sure if it was due to less weight in the bus, or us pushing, but it worked! The bus got out of the mud, we clambered in, and resumed our journey. We drove through the villages of the Torajans, the people who live in the highlands. The houses are on stilts, large, and shaped like a
boat but with the roof shaped like a saddle and high on each end. There are unique carvings in each house or meeting place. Eventually, we got to the highlands inn. It was basic, but clean, and there was hot water in the late afternoon to wash off the mud. We went to the dining room for a local soup/stew called “pallubasa”. The pieces of meat were either water buffalo or regular beef (we didn’t ask) combined with grated coconut and several spices (Indonesia is the home of the “Spice Islands”). Anyway, it was delicious. After dinner, we went back to our rooms. Fran and I soon fell fast asleep. All of a sudden, I woke up to Fran’s screaming. Fran is an inveterate traveler, and she is never terrified See A Hanukkah tail page B4
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A Hanukkah tail
to bring a gift, usually a pig or Continued from B3 during the night. I turned on a water buffalo. As the shortest the flashlight. There was a female in our group, as we engiant snail, almost a foot wide, tered the compound, Fran prethat had dropped from the ceilsented our gift to the hostess: a ing right onto her neck. In the carton of Marlboro Cigarettes. dark, I’m sure Fran thought the Fran hates smoking, but she big snail was a Komodo knows tradition is tradition. dragon. I grabbed the large Then men went to one area, squishy critter and threw it out the women to another. the front door. Fran washed Fran said: “They served us tea herself well, but we didn’t get and food tidbits. I noticed that much sleep that night. The the women were wearing the next day, when we went out, we same dresses, and that they saw lots of the snails. Even Funeral procession, Tana Toraja Credit: Sergey, licensed under changed them three times durthough they were quite big, the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. ing the day. That’s probably an they weren’t as scary in the indication of how much they daylight as having one drop on honored the deceased.” your neck when you’re sleeping. At the men’s tent, I was exThe next day Ahmad told us pected to eat a local unidentihe had arranged for us to go to fiable raw snack, or smoke a a funeral. Not just a regular fuclove cigarette. I had given up neral, but a celebration of life smoking ten years ago, but I and death for an honored pergladly inhaled the clove cigason who had died... eight rette. Fran would have eaten months ago! The ethnic group whatever they served. There called the Tana Torajans live in were also cockfights which we the mountains of Sulawesi. chose not to witness. They converted to Protestant In order to raise funds for the Christianity generations ago, family, or for the village, there but the people kept their polywas an auction of water buftheistic animism and their faloes and pigs. A good water death rituals. buffalo goes for over a thouWhen a Torajan person dies, sand dollars, but a pig costs he is considered sick, not dead. only a few hundred dollars. His body is kept in the house Fran and I thought our group for months and embalmed. should buy the pig and donate Usually the family even gives it to the family, but we couldn’t the “deceased” food and water. get our fellow guests to chip in. Depending on the status of the Maybe they thought the Inperson, the funeral is not perdonesian currency is like a US formed until everyone in the dollar, but each rupiah is only extended family returns to the Boat House Mausoleum. Kete Kesu Village, Tana Toraja. worth less than a penny. It highlands and the celebration This mausoleum in the shape of a house is a modern variant would have been a good story, of the more traditionally-inspired (but still modern) Torajan can be conducted with due but it was not to be. "boat-house burials" Its walls are decorated with various mohonor. The funeral is more ex- tifs that include, along the side, a traditional snake-and- On the way back, we stopped pensive than weddings or any clouds decoration in two horizontal bands. A realistic statue to look at the tombs and effiother celebration during the of the principal deceased, encased in modern plexiglass to gies of long-dead persons. They person’s life. The older and keep it safe from the elements, watches over the upper front. were half-way up on a niche or more esteemed the deceased Below is a Christian cross: the Torajans are culturally animist, crevice on limestone rock cliff, was, the bigger and more ex- although many now identify themselves as Christian due to to honor them and to prevent pensive the funeral. Several political necessity. The roof of the mausoleum is a modified grave-robbing. The effigies are water buffaloes are usually pro- boat-form. Credit:Michael Gunther, licensed under the Creative of painted wooden or bamboo, Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. vided by the family. They are to made in the likeness of the perhelp the person on the journey to Puya, the land of souls. Then, son, and look out over the tomb. Torajans do not really conthe animal is ritually slaughtered to supply the food for the feast. sider dead those who we call deceased. For them, the dead are We drove to the “parking lot” by the village. The further one never really gone. It’s very different from our culture, but it comes, the more honor is given to the body, so we were con- works for the Tana Torajans. sidered special guests as we had come all the way from the For more travel stories, see our blog: FranAndRichsTrav USA and Canada. Nevertheless, the tradition is for all guests els.com.
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Hanukkah facts Continued from page B2 • The first official White House Hanukkah Party was held by President George W. Bush in 2001. The menorah lit was 100 years old. • Invitations sent out for the 2008 Hanukkah Party had a Christmas tree on them. • President Barack Obama’s 2009 Hanukkah message was issued in both Hebrew and English. • TV Guide listed A Rugrats Hanukkah in their “10 Best Classic Family Holiday Specials” in 1999. • John Lovitz’s Saturday Night Live character, “Hanukkah Harry,” was immortalized in a book by Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut, Ph.D., calling him an American folk hero and a counterpart to Santa Claus. • In 1974, Saks Fifth Avenue advertised a “happy bagel” ornament that was “ready to hang on a Christmas tree, Chanukah bush, or around your neck.” • Adam Sandler’s The Chanukah Song has four parts written over 21 years between 1994 and 2015. • Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman brought a menorah (which he did not light for safety’s sake) and spun a dreidel in zero-g on the Space Shuttle Endeavor. • Astronaut Jessica Meir posted a picture wearing Hanukkah socks with the earth below her. • According to the Associated Press Stylebook, it’s spelled Hanukkah. • James Corden joined with Jewish celebrities Zach Braff, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Josh Peck and Charlie Puth in 2019 to form Boyz II Menorah and the song A Week and a Day. See Hanukkah facts page B7
Hanukkah
These eight children’s books bring new characters into the Hanukkah story PENNY SCHWARTZ JTA Move over, Maccabees. This season’s crop of seven new Hanukkah books for kids puts the spotlight on new heroes, from playful llamas to brave and kind knights on horseback. An eighth book, Honey on the Page, that shines light on Yiddish children’s stories in new translation, makes a perfect family gift. Among this year’s highlights is Arthur A. Levine’s The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol, a superhero story that comes to life with Kevin Hawkes’ sparkling illustrations. Over the years, as a leading children’s book editor, scores of Hanukkah books crossed Levine’s desk, but many were retellings of the same story. “Only a few writers... were telling imaginary tales that took Hanukkah as a jumping-off point,” he wrote in an email. Nate Gadol is the kind of story he longed for, that enhances the cherished Hanukkah traditions with an aura of magic. This year, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevents families
from celebrating Hanukkah with large festive gatherings, round up the cousins on Zoom, light the menorah, nibble on sufganiyot and share in the joy of a new book. The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol Arthur A. Levine; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes Candlewick Press; ages 5-8 Just when the world needs a dose of magic, along comes Nate Gadol, a Jewish mythical superhero who sparks joy for those in need. In Levine’s warm-hearted tale, embellished with Hawkes’ glorious art, the larger-thanlife Nate Gadol swoops in to brighten the lives of the Glaser family, poor but kind new immigrants. In the cold winter of 1881 in their urban American apartment, the Glasers stretch what they have to help their neighbors, the O’Malleys. When Hanukkah and Christmas coincide, Nate and Santa help each other out and surprise both families with gifts. The hero’s name is a play on the phrase represented with the four letters on the dreidel, Nes Gadol Haya Sham (“A great miracle happened there”). Happy Llamakkah! Laura Gehl; illustrated by Lydia Nichols Abrams Appleseed; ages 3-5 How does a family of llamas celebrate Hanukkah? With Lllamakah, of course! Laura Gelb’s tender See Children’s Hanukkah books page B6
B6 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Hanukkah
The secret history of Hanukkah
Children’s Hanukkah books
Continued from page B5 rhyming verse is perfect for cozying up with the endearing little llamas as they light the Hanukkah menorah, play dreidel and build a snow-llama. Lydia Nichols’ cheerful illustrations brighten the pages. Kayla and Kugel’s Happy Hanukkah Ann D. Koffsky: Apples & Honey Press; ages 3 -8 The happy pair of Kayla and her rambunctious dog Kugel are back in Ann Koffsky’s latest title in the delightful series. As Kayla gets ready to celebrate Hanukkah, she and Kugel are searching for the family’s Hanukkah box. In Koffsky’s clear verse, the spunky Kayla explains the origins and traditions of the holiday to Kugel. Koffsky’s color-rich, lively illustrations, including many of the mischievous Kugel, are sure to spark smiles. The Littlest Candle: A Hanukkah Story Rabbis Kerry and Jesse Olitzky; illustrated by Jen Kostman Kalaniot Books; ages 4-8 On the eve of Hanukkah, a box of colorful candles tucked
away in a drawer comes to life in this sweet story. While the big candles bicker about who will be chosen to light the first candle on the menorah, the wise candle notices that it’s the littlest, Flicker, who is always helping others. When Flicker is chosen as the shamash, or the helper, the small purplish candle humbly shines in the highest place on the menorah. The book pairs noted Jewish educator Rabbi Kerry Olitzky with his son, Rabbi Jesse Olitzky. Jen Kostman’s cartoon-style illustrations are as colorful as the bright boxes of Hanukkah candles. The Eight Knights of Hanukkah Leslie Kimmelman; illustrated by Galia Bernstein Holiday House; ages 3-8 Hark! In this playful tale, Lady Sadie challenges her eight young knights to save their kingdom’s Hanukkah celebration from a dragon who’s wreaking havoc on the villagers. She sends them out trotting on horseback to make things right with kind deeds and bravery. Kids will chuckle when Sir Isabella and Sir Rugelach discover that behind the dragon’s plume of smoke is a young creature who joins them in the See Children’s Hanukkah books page B8
TAMAR FOX Everything your Hebrew school taught you about the miracle of Hanukkah is a lie. According to the Book of Maccabees, which most scholars believe was written shortly after the Maccabean revolt, Hanukkah was born of another holiday: Sukkot. When the Maccabees finally retook the Temple in the month of Kislev, they decided to celebrate Sukkot, the seven-day pilgrimage holiday which they had missed during their battles with the Greeks. At the end of Sukkot is Shemini Atzeret, an eighth day of celebration. So the Maccabees rededicated the Temple and immediately set out to celebrate for eight days. If, as many scholars say, that’s the true origin of Hanukkah, then where did we get the story of the oil? Josephus Flavius wrote about Hanukkah 250 years later, and referred to it as the “Holiday of Lights,” connecting light with freedom. 350 years after that, the Talmud tells of Hanukkah, including the miracle of the oil, in three lines. Over time the focus of Hanukkah shifted from the military victory in the Book of Maccabees, to an oily miracle summarized in the Talmud. But don’t let this news keep you from enjoying latkes, and basking in those pretty lights. Happy Hanukkah, everyone!
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The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | B7
Jewish women from North Africa have an awesome feminist Hanukkah tradition RISHE GRONER This piece originally appeared in Alma. When it comes to celebrating Hanukkah, you probably think about lighting the menorah, playing dreidel (or maybe not, does anyone actually play dreidel?) and eating so many latkes that your stomach burns in sweet agony. But did you know that there’s a special Hanukkah tradition — Eid Al Bnat (The Festival of Daughters, in Judeo-Arabic) or Chag HaBanot (in Hebrew) — that women and girls from North Africa’s Jewish communities have been celebrating for centuries? In Jerusalem last year, I joined a group of women of Middle Eastern and North African backgrounds who gather regularly to study their heritage with an organization called Arevot, and we held an inspiring Eid Al Bnat celebration, with a focus on how to bring it back into our own communities. It’s a beautiful tradition that more people should know about, so let me break it down: ORIGINS OF THE HOLIDAY Celebrated on the Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) of Tevet (one of the Hebrew months where Hanukkah takes place) in communities in North Africa and elsewhere, particularly the islands of Djerba and Tunis in Tunisia, Algeria, Salonika in Greece and Kushta (Istanbul) in Turkey, this day is filled with historic connections to powerful Jewish women. The festival takes the form of ceremonial gatherings featuring symbolic rituals, delicious treats and traditional songs, all focusing on bringing together generations of mothers, daughters, aunts,
Hanukkah facts Continued from page B5 • Jack Black, HAIM, Adam Green, Yo La Tengo, The Flaming Lips, Alex Frankel, Buzzy Lee, Tommy Guerrero, Loudon Wainwright III, Craig Wedren and Watkins Family Hour released songs in 2019 for the album Hanukkah+. • The maximum height for a menorah, by Jewish law, is about 31 feet. • In the UK, the House of Commons holds a menorah lighting at the residence of the Speaker of the House of Commons. While there aren’t too many well-known Hanukkah songs, many Christmas songs were famously written by Jews. • The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by Robert Wells and Mel Torme • Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne • It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Edward Pola and George Wyle • Santa Baby by Joan Javits and Philip Springer • Silver Bells by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans • Holly Jolly Christmas by Johnny Marks, as well as Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Run Rudolph Run, and most famously, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
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sisters and the extended community. The stories of Hanukkah and the ladies therein are often retold only as the story of Judith, the brave widow who fake-seduced the Greek-Syrian general Holofernes, fed him salty cheese and got him drunk on wine, then calmly beheaded him. The soldiers freaked out, the Maccabees won the battle and the rest is quite literally history. But there’s another, lesser known story of a brave woman not named except as “the daughter of the Hasmonean, Yohanan the High Priest,” who lived in Judea (AKA modern day Israel) during the time of the Maccabees. Among the antiJewish edicts of the time, the invading governor insisted on sleeping with every virgin woman the night before her marriage, and this carried on for almost four years. On the night See Feminist Hanukkah tradition page B9
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Children’s Hanukkah books
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Continued from page B6 grand Hanukkah celebration. Leslie Kimmelman and Galia Bernstein have created a lively, off-beat story that tickles the funny bone. (Added bonus: the cast of characters are very diverse.) There Was a Young Rabbi: A Hanukkah Tale Suzanne Wolf; illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler Kar-Ben; ages 4-8 In this playful, rhyming story, Hanukkah meets There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. On the first night of Hanukkah a rabbi reads from the Torah and lights the menorah. Each night, she adds something new — cooking applesauce, playing dreidel with her family and enjoying chocolate coins. Young kids will join the chorus in this rollicking read-aloud. The Ninth Night of Hanukkah Erica S. Perl; illustrated by Shahar Kober Sterling Children’s Books; ages 3-8 Oy vey. When Max and Rachel move into a new apartment on the first night of Hanukkah, their special Hanukkah box is
nowhere to be found. The inventive siblings craft their own menorah and knock on the door of a neighbor who comes to the rescue with birthday candles. For eight nights, a multicultural array of neighbors helps the kids improvise — a hoolah hoop transforms into a perfect dreidel, for instance. As the holiday ends, Max and Rachel invite their new friends to a Hanukkah celebration. Israeli illustrator Shahar Kober’s animated illustrations add to the humor. Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children’s Literature Edited and translated by Miriam Udel; New York University Press; ages 10-adult Miriam Udel, a scholar of German and Jewish studies at Emory University, has gifted the world with a treasure of a book that introduces readers of all ages to the wealth of little-known Jewish children’s stories by more than 25 early 20th century Yiddish writers, including Sholem Asch, Zina Rabinowitz and Mordkhe Spektor. The rich anthology, perfect for reading aloud, is a keeper to return to over the years.
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The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | B9
Hanukkah Music
Hanukkah
Feminist Hanukkah tradition
JEWNIVERSE Lighting the family menorah can be a two-second affair. How much time does it take to strike a match and light a fire, anyway? But you can also make it last longer. Singing is one time-honored thing to do while sitting around the menorah. While there are no strict laws about the order of songs, it’s most common to sing Haneirot Halalu (These candles) and Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages). Other songs such as Hanukkah O Hanukkah have been popularized alongside them, as well as the immortal Dreidel Song. Hanukkah songs are an evolving tradition. The comic Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah Song–basically, a list of Jewish celebrities–defied all odds to become one of the most popular songs of all time on YouTube. And this year, several new bands have released Hanukkah songs of their own. It doesn’t matter whether you have a good voice or not. Instead, enjoy lighting the menorah and being together. And, of course, if you’re really that paranoid about singing, you can always just download these songs–and crank up the volume on your iPod.
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thing that was usually done!) and kissed the Torah scrolls and Continued from page B7 of the high priest’s daughter’s marriage, as she was about to be were blessed by the rabbi; in others they cooked and baked a carted off to the governor’s chamber for the night, she uncovered festive meal together, and then celebrated all night. Sweet traher hair, ripped open her clothes, and exposed herself to all. ditional foods were prepared and gifted in baskets to mothers, Amid cries of “send her off to daughters, or mothers-in-law, be burned!” she turned to the prayers were shared, and songs crowd and said something were sung. Overall, though, the along the lines of, “Are you kidkey components always inding me? You think this is me clude lighting the Hanukkah being exposed — before my candles, lots of music and brothers and friends — but it dancing, and the opportunity doesn’t bother you that I’m to create intimacy and comabout to be exposed before munity with women. this foreign invading governor, A song or piyyut often begins sacrificing me to him?” the night, followed by lighting Her brothers, the Maccabees the Hanukkah candles. Piyyuand Co., realized it was time to tim are liturgical poems written in Hebrew that are sung in ingo off and kill the ruling govercredibly complicated and nor. She got herself fancy and deeply moving Arabic maqam had herself escorted with (a system of melodic modes). dancers and musicians straight For those of us without the abilto the governor’s palace. Seeing The North African sfenj Credit: Getty Images the priestly family all caught up in this pseudo-wedding, the ego- ity to improvise our way through epic Hebrew poetry, you can maniac governor let them right in, imagining they were handing pick out a song that is meaningful to you and that women can off their daughter with voluntary joy. They utilized the opportu- sing together. After that, the women traditionally recite a blessnity to behead him and all his servants, which eventually helped ing of “Mi Shebeirach Imoteinu,” or, “May the One who blessed bring the Maccabees to victory. The power of this woman’s vul- our Mothers bless us.” It’s a refreshing change from the often nerability, honesty, and using her voice at just the right time is a male-gendered liturgy, and a cool opportunity to improvise your own prayer and gratitude for the women who came before us. fascinating tradition that we celebrate on this night. Next comes the chance to go around and get to know everyHOW TO CELEBRATE Like every tradition that gets passed down from generation one, so pull out your best summer camp ice-breakers and find to generation, there’s always a new flourish or nuance between creative ways to put everyone at ease. It’s beautiful to encourage every woman to name their mothers and grandmothers how your grandma did it and how my aunt likes to do it. In some communities, women visited the synagogue (not a See Tradition page B10
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B10 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Hanukkah
Tradition
Quebec to allow gatherings during Christmas, but not Hanukkah, frustrating province’s Jews
province’s ban on gatherings would be al- the lifting or imposition of unilateral COVIDPHILISSA CRAMER lowed during Hanukkah, which this year runs 19 restrictions. There must be no favouritism. JTA Jewish groups in Quebec are expressing dis- Dec. 10-18, Legault said no. The Premier must be the premier of all Quemay after the province announced a plan to That response is drawing criticism from becers.” allow small gatherings at Christmas but said Canadian Jewish groups. “We appreciate the government’s efforts to gatherings during Hanukkah balance the imperatives of would remain prohibited. communal health and family The plan would permit Queholiday celebrations,” Rabbi becers to have gatherings of up Reuben Poupko, the co-chair to 10 people per day for four of the Centre for Israel and days in late December, in a Jewish Affairs Quebec, told the concession to the fact that famCanadian Press. “We hope and ilies would likely gather even as anticipate that the liberties COVID-19 cases surge. Gathergranted to the Christian comings were not permitted during munity will be shared equiCanadian Thanksgiving last tably with the other faith month, but people got together communities of Quebec.” nonetheless and cases soon Quebec’s December rules, surged throughout the country. which could be rolled back if Premier François Legault cases continue to rise there, said Dec. 24-27 was chosen to A view of the empty Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, are being received skeptically allow residents to quarantine March 17, 2020. Credit: Jocelyne Zablit/AFP via Getty Images by epidemiologists, who say before and after without disrupting school and “Premier Legault has not addressed the any permission to relax safeguards could fuel work schedules. But he also said he believed concerns and needs of several minority a rise in cases. At least some Jewish Quebethat Quebecers craved time with their families groups in Quebec, including the Jewish com- cers, too, say they are bewildered by the plan. and that allowing them to come together munity,” Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith “I sadly officiated at a lot of funerals in the would give them hope during a dark time. Canada, said in a statement. He added, “The first wave of this pandemic and I don’t want “Christmas, the holidays, is a time of year Quebec government must take the needs of to see that happening again in January bethat’s precious, and let’s remember that family minority communities, including the Jewish cause of this government decree,” Rabbi Lisa is the basis of our lives,” he said last week. community, into consideration, and work Grushcow of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom Asked whether any exceptions to the proactively with these communities prior to told the Global News.
Continued from page B9 as well, lighting a candle for each one in the center of the table, bringing our personal histories into the circle. A COMMUNAL BAT MITZVAH One awesome tradition is the presentation of the bat mitzvah girls of the year — consider it our very own debutante ball, but this time, it’s up to the moms and aunts to cheer, bless, and generally love up these young girls as newcomers to the women’s circle. It’s also traditional to prepare foods together, like the North African favorite sfenj — think jelly doughnuts meet churros drizzled with honey — or honey cakes and cookies, or a potluck dinner. Mishloach manot — gifting packages of food and treats — is also part of the Eid Al Bnat tradition, so the Jewish mom Tupperware buffet is a must at this party! THE POWER OF WOMEN’S CIRCLES Since this festival is based on the stories of Judith and the daughter of Yohanan the Hasmonean, it’s important to tell, read or act out their stories, reflecting on the power of women. It’s also a good time to share the history of the holiday, passing on wisdom from generation to generation and sharing the customs across different cultures. Women’s groups have a natural intimacy, so it’s fun to play with the format and find ways to connect. In Jerusalem, we played a game that asked each woman to share a tip or a gift with another, which included everything from womb meditations to honeybee secrets to how to cope with mourning a loved one. You can share poetry, songs or just the best thing your mother ever taught you. Whether you share stories, get vulnerable, cook up a storm, or dance the night away, this night is for us all to celebrate the power of the ladies in our lives, and the bonds that keep us strong in the face of struggle.
Happy Hanukkah
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The most absurd Menorahs on the internet ARIELLE KAPLAN From Alma I’ve seen my fair share of menorahs, but nothing could prepare me for what I stumbled upon in the deepest corners of the web — AKA Amazon and Etsy. I really can’t tell if I hate or love these absurd menorahs, so I’ll let you be the judge.
Maybe it’s the troll that reminds me of the baby doll head attached to spider legs in Toy Story (you know what I’m talking about!!), or maybe it’s Maybelline. Probably the former. Anyway, please don’t put this on your window display unless you want to send shivers down your neighbors’ spines.
SMILING SHEEP Does this look like a “smiling sheep” to you? No, it doesn’t. Because it’s neither smiling nor a sheep. In fact — according to me — it’s a “grimacing ramen noodle wiener dog.” With this false advertising, I request a discount. GOLF MENORAH Golf is subjectively the most boring sport in the world, and associating it with Hanukkah is just rude. And at $144, this menorah is a total shanda.
DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY I dig the idea behind this Harry Potter themed menorah, See Most absurd Menorahs page B12
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Most absurd Menorahs Continued from page B11 but the execution isn’t quite there. I’m also not sure who the man donning a green jacket to the left of Dumbledore is. But if he’s single, let me know.
MENOBSTER I mean... lobster just isn’t kosher. I can only assume the majority of people who buy this one are non-Jewish restaurant owners in Maine. Bonus points for naming it “Menobster,” though. That’s genius.
LATKES MENORAH A “latke” menorah with no sign of latkes? Absurd! Unless the baker on the right is holding a platter of latkes, I demand a name change.
SHALOM BUS Would I buy this? No. Would I receive it as a gift? Yes. Will I like it? The jury’s still out on that one.
CHRISTMAS TREE I suppose this one’s appropriate for Jews raised in a household that also celebrates Christmas, but do we really need to mash them up?
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | B13
Hanukkah
On Hanukkah, just let the lights go out EDMON J. RODMAN LOS ANGELES | JTA There’s a popular Hanukkah song recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, Light One Candle. Its chorus insists we “don’t let the light go out” — but I’ve been thinking that maybe we should. Not that I want to leave all those Maccabee children stumbling in the dark on cold December nights, or leave them without an image of light and hope to plug into. But, sometimes, letting the light go out kindles an altogether different kind of luminance in which to examine the moments of our lives that we hold dear. So my urging that we watch the light go out is a literal one — while we love to bask in the glow of our menorahs, what is really illuminating is watching the candles go out. Watching them burn out, one by one, makes me think about how remarkable it is to kindle light. In a time when LED menorah decorations are plentiful and one can use an app to light the “candles” on their smartphone, please give me candles blue, yellow, red and white. The fire of my imagination lights up as their wicks burn down. One Hanukkah — after our family menorah was lit, the blessings chanted, the songs sung, the gifts opened — everyone trudged upstairs to watch TV. I stayed downstairs alone and watched the menorah burn low. Though the communal and commercial push on Hanukkah is toward shoppingmall candle lightings, house parties and group crafts for kids, I wanted to see if the holiday could also be quiet and contemplative. I’m not talking “silent night” here — that’s that other holiday — but a real chance to take in the play of shadow and light and contemplate what Hanukkah means. The Jewish life cycle, from bris or baby naming to funeral and shiva, leaves little time for singular reflection. Judaism calls for a group, a minyan, to experience much of what it offers. Even on Yom Kippur, we do not confess our sins alone, but together as community. So I admit that sitting alone and watching the candles burn down seemed a little downbeat and weird at first. See Just let the lights go out page 14
The Jewish Force awakens: A Star Wars Hanukkah gift guide GABE FRIEDMAN In the over 40 years since the breakout success of the first Star Wars film, the franchise has raked in $37 billion, mostly from branded toys and other merchandise. Since the reboot of the films by director J.J. Abrams — there’s a whole new generation of intergalactic gear to spend your money on. And some of it’s even Jewish! Here are the 5 best Jewish-themed Star Wars gifts money can buy. YODA LEGO MEZUZAH “A hoot, these Yoda Mezuzahs are,” reads a product description, in appropriate Yoda syntax, on the Modern Tribe Judaica website. The company notes that Lego has not officially authorized the mezuzah, but Yoda likely would – because let’s be honest, he’s pretty much a wise old rabbi. LIGHTSABER CANDLE STICK This recreation of Darth Vader’s lightsaber handle is billed as “perfect for breakfast on Bespin,” a fictional planet in the Star Wars universe – but it would work equally well as a shamash holder. The candlestick comes with three red candles (the color of Darth Vader’s weapon). Warning: It may lead to an im-
Merchandise at the Stockton Street Disney Store in San Francisco, Sept. 4, 2015. Credit: George Nikitin/Invision for Disney Consumer Products/AP Images
promptu lightsaber duel at the family Hanukkah table. THE “DROIDEL” Everyone’s favorite astromech droid, the lovable R2-D2, has been transformed into everyone’s favorite Hanukkah toy. However, the product, which can be made out of a paper printout and a pencil or straw, is much less hi-tech than its robot subject. STAR WARS KIPPAH When it comes to Star Wars yarmulkes, committed fans have a de-
cent array of choices on websites like Etsy. As an extra bonus: they are guaranteed to look way better than Anakin Skywalker’s humorous hair braid seen in the prequel films. KOSHER R2-D2 COOKIES These kosher cookies would fit in equally well at a Hanukkah party or a Star Wars movie marathon. But it might take a strong connection to the force to find them, as they are not available to order online.
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Hanukkah
Just let the lights go out
Continued from page 13 But the traditional prayer Hanerot Halalu (These Lights) — which reminds us, as we look upon the candles, to thank and praise God “for the wondrous miracle of our deliverance” — helped me view this solo experience in a different, well, light. While watching the flames, I finally connected with the words of the prayer, realizing that after eight nights of parties and presents (as well as latkes, sufganiyot and black cherry soda), I felt miraculously delivered, like I was a Maccabee who emerged victorious from the combat zones of holiday shopping. Casting a shadow on my reverie, however, was the Hanukkah Meditation in my Sim Shalom prayer book. It suggested that “in the last glimmer of spiraling flame,” I should be able to see the spark of “Maccabees, martyrs, men and women of valor.” Try as I might, staring at the candles burning down, all I could make Quiet contemplation of the menorah can be rewarding. Credit: Flickr Commons of Shabbat or setting bonfires on Lag b’Omer. rabbi where I grew up, a kid from Scouts and, out were colorful driblets of wax. In the window of my dining room, another to a well-earned round of applause, my parI wondered: Was there some other message? candle connection was burning up right be- ents. In turn, they had showed me how to Flames reach out at us from most every fore me. The shamash, the candle used to move my feet, write, parse Torah commenpart of Judaism. Looking into our menorahs, light all the others on the menorah, was burn- tary, cook and strive toward menschhood. they can draw us into a light of memory, like ing out first, making me ask: Who had been In the Sefer Yetzirah, the Book of Creation, a yahrzeit candle lit at the anniversary of a my shamash? Taking bows in the candlelight the earliest foundation text of Kabbalah, loved one’s death. Flames also light us up with were a basketball coach, a college lecturer, the there is a passage about a “flame in a burning celebration, such as illuminating the candles
coal.” Aryeh Kaplan, an Orthodox rabbi who was known for his knowledge of physics and Kabbalah, wrote that it can be used as a meditation. In his book Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice, various parts of the flame correspond to the Sephirot, or attributes through which Ein Sof — “the infinite” — is revealed. In Kaplan’s meditation, the wick represents the physical world; the blue flame closest to the wick is “the counterpart of Malchut,”or Kingdom, which is our perceptions of God’s actions and attributes. Surrounding this is the bright yellow flame, which corresponds to the Sephirot of Kindness, Strength, Beauty, Victory, Splendor and Foundation. The hottest part, the white flame, is the Sephira of Binah, or understanding, with the “light radiating from the candle,” corresponding to Chochmah, or wisdom. “The only way in which the flame can rise is for all of these parts to come together,” Kaplan wrote. And rise they did, growing brighter first, and then sputtering out, one by one, but leaving me with a glow. Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who writes on Jewish life from Los Angeles. Contact him at edmojace@gmail.com.
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Where Tony Blinken stands on Jewish issues
GABE FRIEDMAN JTA Tony Blinken, Presidentelect Joe Biden’s choice for secretary of state, is the stepson of a Holocaust survivor whose stories shaped his worldview and subsequently his policy decisions, including in the Middle East. Biden named Blinken to the post on Monday, a day after news leaked about his plans to bring on the Jewish former high-ranking official in the Obama Tony Blinken, when he was administration. deputy secretary of state, is Blinken, 58, has been one seen at a news conference at the of Biden’s closest policy ad- State Department, Aug. 10, visers for over a decade and 2016. Credit: Brendan Smiespouses the opposite of alowski/AFP via Getty Images Trump’s “America First� agenda, which prioritized nationalist goals over international diplomacy. Multiple reports say that Blinken will seek to rejoin many of the international agreements that Trump left as president, notably the Paris Climate Accords and the Iran nuclear deal (an agreement with major diplomatic consequences for Israel). Under Blinken, the State Department will usher in a much different foreign policy era, including on Israel. Like Biden, Blinken has close ties to the country forged from his decades of strong support of the Jewish state. Here’s what you need to know about the new top diplomat, who hasn’t been much of a household name until now. His Jewish parents were influential in their own right. Blinken was born in New York City, where he spent most of his early years. His father, Donald, co-founded the hefty E.M. Warburg Pincus & Company (now Warbug Pincus) investment firm and served as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary for four years under President Bill Clinton’s administration. There is an archive at George Soros’ Central European University in Hungary named for Donald Blinken, now 95, and his second wife, Vera, who survived the Holocaust, in part for their support of the “democratization process in the United States and in Hungary.� Donald Blinken’s grandfather Meir Blinken also was a noted Yiddish author whose stories were published in a book in the 1980s that features an introduction by scholar Ruth Wisse. His stepfather’s Holocaust experience shaped his worldview. Tony Blinken’s mother, Judith, remarried Samuel Pisar, a Holocaust survivor and attorney who advised President John F. Kennedy and multiple French presidents. Pisar, who survived three concentration camps, also worked for the United Nations, wrote a libretto title “Kaddish-A Dialogue With God� at the behest of Leonard Bernstein and penned an award-winning memoir about his Holocaust experiences. Read more about him here in a Jewish Telegraphic Agency obituary and the description of a Yad Vashem program named after him. Blinken has said that Pisar’s experiences have informed his vision for the “engaged� role that the United States should play on the global stage. Here’s one story he tells frequently, via Jewish Insider: “One day as they were hiding out, they heard this deep rumbling sound,� Blinken recounted, “and as my stepfather looked out, he saw a sight that he had never seen before — not the dreaded Iron Cross, not a swastika, but on a tank a fivepointed white star. And, maybe in a foolhardy way, he rushed out toward it. He knew what it was. And he got to the tank, the hatch opened up, and a large African-American G.I. stared down at him. And he got down on his knees and he said the only three words that he knew in English, that his mother had taught him before the war: ‘God bless America.’ And at that point, the G.I. lifted him into the tank, into freedom, into America. That’s the story that I grew up with — about what our country is and what it represents, and what it means when the United States is engaged and leading.� His diplomatic career has spanned decades and gained him a reputation as a centrist. That career began on the National Security Council under Clinton. Blinken also was appointed staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was headed by Biden during the George W. Bush years. In 2008, Biden tapped Blinken to help his presidential campaign, and when Biden was chosen as Barack Obama’s vice president, Blinken followed, becoming one of his national security advisers. In 2014, Obama elevated Blinken to deputy secretary of state under John Kerry. During those years, Blinken was heavily involved in the crafting of Middle East policy, including the landmark Iran deal. Blinken has been described as a centrist and an interventionist, and he’s said to have a “mind meld� with Biden on foreign policy — an area of governance in which the president-elect
specializes and wants to prioritize in the Oval Office. Blinken is more hawkish on issues such as Russia, whom he considers a foe (he helped Obama’s team respond stiffly to Vladimir Putin’s encroachments into Crimea). On Israel, Blinken’s views reflect the Democratic mainstream. Within the Democratic Party, a minority of lawmakers and advocates have been trying to shift the party to the left on Israel issues. Progressives including Bernie Sanders have suggested that aid to Israel ought to be conditioned on certain policy choices. The Trump administration has shifted U.S. policy to the right in recent years, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and, just last week, saying that the United States would consider the movement to boycott Israel officially anti-Semitic. Blinken is a centrist here, too. He has said that a Biden administration will not condition aid to Israel on policy choices, will keep the embassy in Jerusalem and will staunchly support Israel at the United Nations — a body that often singles out
the Jewish state for human rights abuses without condemning offenders such as Syria and China. In May, Biden wrote that he “firmly� rejects the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and Blinken has backed up that stance. Blinken’s appointment drew praise from centrist Democrats on Sunday night, but also from Sanders’ foreign policy adviser, Matt Duss, who tweeted that it would be “a new and great thing to have a top diplomat who has regularly engaged with progressive grassroots.� Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a progressive who is known for her harsh criticism of Israel and support for boycotting Israel, responded that she would be happy as long as “he doesn’t try to silence me and suppress my First Amendment right to speak out against Netanyahu’s racist and inhumane policies.� Blinken’s record has earned him respect from Israeli officials, even when he hasn’t always agreed with them. Michael Oren, See Tony Blinken page B17
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During pandemic, Chabad rabbis convened on Zoom — for days and days
The conference typically meets for four days in Brooklyn, SHIRA HANAU where the Chabad emissaries, or schluchim, gather with JTA At the end of the annual conference of Chabad emissaries friends from around the world and attend sessions on all asfrom around the world, they typically take a giant group pho- pects of their work on behalf of the Hasidic movement. This tograph in front of the movement’s headquarters in Brooklyn’s year’s forum included sessions on how to deal with Zoom faCrown Heights. But this year, no camera at the Kinus Hashluchim could capture the nearly 6,000 participants at once: They were on Zoom from their separate computers and time zones. The video version was a concession to the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted the globe for nearly a year. What’s more, the conference didn’t really end. Without planes to catch and families to head home to, the emissaries who assembled on Saturday night for a postShabbat party simply never signed off. The conference began Thursday over Zoom and took a break over Shabbat before resuming Saturday night with a virtual melave malka, a post-Shabbat party, The closing event at Chabad’s annual conference of worldwide emissaries was filmed and farbrengen, a Hasidic gathering in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and streamed around the globe. Credit: Bentzi where stories and words of Torah are Sasson/Chabad.org shared. The event was supposed to start in Melbourne, Aus- tigue and how to run a camp safely during the pandemic. tralia, the first place in the world where Shabbat ends, and In a typical year, a massive banquet at the end would feature continue as Shabbat finished around the world, with the emis- a roll call of every country where the Chabad movement has saries in Hawaii and Alaska the last to sign on. All of that hap- emissaries. At the Zoom gathering that replaced the banquet pened. But instead of ending the meeting when the main this year, the movement announced the founding of the first conference resumed on Sunday, Chabad rabbis logged in as Chabad center in Lagos, Nigeria. It also celebrated approxithey were able. On Tuesday night, at least 750 people were still mately 100 Chabad couples being sent out as new emissaries, logged on, according to Rabbi Motti Seligson, director of media including Rabbi Levi Duchman, now the official emissary to relations for Chabad.org. Posts on social media suggested the United Arab Emirates. that number had actually risen on Wednesday afternoon. But it was the celebratory Zoom meeting that took on “You have people who are connecting and inspiring one an- something of a life of its own. The singing and l’chaims may other in a way you would have thought would not be possible even continue until Shabbat, when the emissaries will log off, because they weren’t able to gather this year in person,” Seligson time zone by time zone. said. He noted that one rabbi in California who is unable to “As long as there are people who want to listen and share travel because of advanced ALS was able to participate this year. and be inspired, it’s going strong,” Seligson said.
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Tony Blinken Continued from page B15 a conservative former U.S. ambassador to Israel, called Blinken a man of “singular intelligence and warmth” in a passage of his 2015 book Ally: My Journey Across the AmericanIsraeli Divide — even in describing how Blinken rebuked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for expanding settlement building after agreeing not to. “How could you do this to Israel’s best friend?” Blinken said about Biden to Oren, who was the ambassador at the time. On Twitter Sunday night, Oren said he could think of “no finer choice” for the post, and news of Biden tapping Blinken drew praise from a cross-section of Israelis who have encountered him in the course of diplomacy. If there’s ever tension between Israeli and American leadership, don’t expect to know about it. A big part of keeping things copacetic, as Biden and Blinken see it, is leaving policy disputes behind closed doors — something Blinken pushed for during the Obama years, sometimes to no avail. As he told a Sesame Street character, Blinken is compassionate toward refugees. President Trump prioritized closing off U.S. borders and punishing immigrants who sought asylum in a policy set by a Jewish adviser, Stephen Miller. Biden has said his approach to immigration — an issue important to many American Jews — will be much different. Blinken explained his attitude about refugees in a 2016 video with the Sesame Street character Grover, in which he explains to the fuzzy blue puppet that refugees should be treated the same as “you and me.” “We all have something to learn and gain from one another, even when it doesn’t seem at first like we have much in common,” Blinken said after asking Grover to imagine how challenging it must be for someone to feel so unsafe that they decide to leave their home. He’s got a lighter side — and a band with a clever name. At one point the Harvard grad — who married Evan Ryan, a former assistant secretary of state in a ceremony that involved both a rabbi and a priest — wanted to be a filmmaker. Blinken also has a ’70s-inspired band called Ablinken — wordplay on multiple levels — that has two tracks on Spotify.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah around the world
GABE FRIEDMAN JTA “It has become a blue and white kaleidoscope of vague Jewishness, one that tacitly enables Christmas-style material excess,” wrote Emma Green in the Atlantic. “The Festival of Lights, pleasant as it is, is a minor celebration of a band of violent, nut-job religious fanatics that was elevated to prominence because of its time of year,” Sarah Seltzer wrote in Flavorwire. But for many across the globe, Hanukkah is a lifeline to a shared Jewish heritage that is not particularly present in their countries’ everyday cultures. Michael Freund, the founder and chairman of Shavei Israel, a nonprofit that works to reconnect ancient communities around the world with their Jewish heritage, described this in talking about the 1,000 or so strong Jewish community of Kaifeng, China. “[A]fter centuries of assimilation, a growing number of Kaifeng’s Jews have begun seeking to return to their roots and embrace their Jewish identity,” Freund said in a press release. “The Chinese Jews take their inspiration from the Maccabees.”
Above left: Lighting menorahs in Krakow, Poland, above right: Members of the Bnei Menashe Jewish community from across northeastern India gathering in Churachandpur, in the Indian state of Manipur to celebrate Hanukkah in 2015, and below: a few dozen of the 1,000 or so Jews in Kaifeng, in eastern China, gathered to celebrate on the first night of Hanukkah, also in 2015. All Credit: Shavei Israel
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Hanukkah
Alejandro Mayorkas is Biden’s pick for Homeland Security secretary RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON | JTA President-elect Joe Biden announced the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas, a Latino Jew who has emphasized the heightened threat facing American Jews, as his Homeland Security secretary on Monday, Nov. 23. Mayorkas, 60, the deputy secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, was born in Alejandro Mayorkas, then Cuba to a Cuban Jewish fa- deputy secretary of Homeland ther and Romanian Jewish Security, addresses the Orthomother. His mother sur- dox Union at a conference in Washington, Sept. 21, 2016. vived the Holocaust. As deputy secretary, May- Credit: Orthodox Union orkas worked closely with Jewish groups and spoke often about the specific threats facing American Jews. Speaking in 2016 to the annual Washington conference of the Orthodox Union about nonprofit security grants, Mayorkas
said, “The need is most acute in the Jewish community because of the ascension of anti-Semitism and hate crimes we see.” Mayorkas grounded his concern in his background and his upbringing. Among the things that “keep me up at night,” he said at the time, was the threat to “my community,” the Jewish community. “I come from a tradition of a lack of security instilled in me as a very young person,” said Mayorkas, whose parents had moved to Cuba after marrying, then the United States following the revolution there. Mayorkas is a board member of HIAS, the Jewish immigration advocacy group. “Ali has consistently demonstrated that he is not only a strong and highly respected leader, but an empathetic one who knows the heart of the stranger, as the child of a Holocaust survivor, as a Latino, and as a refugee and immigrant himself,” said Mark Hetfield, the president of HIAS, in a statement. The Biden transition team in its news release naming Mayorkas emphasized the precedent he will set. “Alejandro Mayorkas is the first Latino and immigrant nominated to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security,” it said. “He has led a distinguished 30-year career as a law enforcement official and a nationally-recognized lawyer in the private sector.”
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B’nai Mitzvah announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha .org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: jpress@jewishomaha.org. Readers can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries - online at: www.omahajewishpress.com. Go to Submission Forms. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines prior to secular and Jewish holidays.
Jews urged to emulate Maccabees in fight on oppression
JTA | December 13, 1939 Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver of Cleveland last night urged Jews to launch an offensive against injustice and oppression, in emulation of the Maccabees of old. He addressed some 250 persons attending the 13th annual Chanukah dinner of the Metropolitan Conference of Temple Brotherhoods at the Hotel Commodore. “The struggle of the Maccabees anticipated with amazing fidelity of detail the elemental struggle now raging in the world,” Dr. Silver said. “Israel was the only dissident, non-conforming people in the whole of antiquity. They refused to accept ‘Gleichshaltung.’ The Maccabees carried on what we would call today an underground movement. Israel has always had as its adversaries the greatest empires of the period, and Israel has survived. Israel has again been singled out for especial fury by pagan imperialism. We again accept the challenge. The victory in the most recent struggle between the sovereignty of the mind and spirit and the tyranny of political culture reinforced by dictatorship belong today, as in the days of old, to those who are not afraid to belong to a minority, to those who are ready to suffer for those things which alone make life worthy of suffering.” The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
Happy Hanukkah
The Jewish Press
The Jewish Press Board | Abby Kutler, President | Eric Dunning, Ex-Officio Danni Christensen | David Finkelstein | Candice Friedman | Bracha Goldsweig | Margie Gutnik Natasha Kraft | Chuck Lucoff | Eric Shapiro | Andy Shefsky | Shoshy Susman | Amy Tipp
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | B19
Jews from Buchenwald Camp celebrate Hanukkah in Palestine Settlement JTA | December 3, 1945 The traditional celebration of Hanukkah took on added significance this year for the 42 pioneers of Kibbutz Buchenwald, as they watched a procession, yesterday, of 300 children bearing torches and lanterns made of grapefruit shells from the fruit of their own groves, wind its way around the farm settlement of Afikim, whose water-tower was topped by a huge electric menorah. After the children’s procession, led by youngsters from their own ranks, the members of Kibbutz Buchenwald mingled with Afikim’s settlers to sing the traditional songs of the Feast of Light. They heard the head of the community speak of “the memory of the great herces” of Israel. They raised square lanterns, with their four sides marked with transparent letters, each the initial of a word spelling out the phrase “Great Miracle Occurred Here.” To the members of Kibbutz Buchenwald, who last year lay dying, this phrase was especially significant, for each one it was a personal miracle. Kibbutz Buchenwald, which at present occupies a section of the Afikim colony, was established in the death camp at Buchenwald by two of its inmates, Moshe Soderet and Berliner Posnansky. These men, a few weeks after their liberation by the Allies, decided that rather than wait for the world to settle their fate, they would set up their own group to prepare for colonization in Palestine. With the assistance of a U.S. Army chaplain, Rabbi Robert Marcus, they enlisted a dozen more from the ranks of the thousands of dazed survivors of hunger and torture, and within a few weeks were able to leave the concentration camp to go to a broken down farm,
twenty miles away. After three months of strenuous labor, during which time they were joined by many recruits, including girls from Bergen Belsen, the first group
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Buchenwald concentration camp—Jews who, while inmates, had dreamed about establishing such a place. With the help of two U.S. Army chaplains—Rabbis
Happy Hanukkah Dr. James Wax
was ready to leave for Palestine. In 2016, Zachary Solomon wrote a story about this Kibbutz for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: In September of 1945, on the heels of liberation, a group of survivors came together to form a kibbutz in a rather unlikely location: on the estate of Julius Streicher, publisher of the notorious Nazi paper Der Stürmer. To wit: while Streicher was being convicted and sentenced to death for crimes against humanity at Nuremberg, Jews were literally learning how to farm at his house. Remarkably, Kibbutz Nili, as it was known, was one of 35 kibbutzim that formed in postwar Germany to train Jews for agricultural work in Palestine. The first of these mini-kibbutzim was Kibbutz Buchenwald, founded in June, 1945, by survivors of none other than the
Herschel Schacter and Robert Marcus— the survivors were given an abandoned farm, along with food, tools, and eventually immigration certificates. Kibbutz Buchenwald operated until 1948, when most everyone immigrated to the newly established state of Israel. Many of the survivors went on to found Kibbutz Netzer Sereni, just southeast of Tel Aviv. Historian Judith Tydor Baumel, in her 1997 book Kibbutz Buchenwald: Survivors and Pioneers, sums up powerfully what these survivors must have been like: “Those idealists appeared to me as the ultimate example of perfection.” The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
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HAPPY HANUKKAH from
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B20 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
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FOOD T H E
H A N U K K A H
E D I T I O N
A supplement to The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
C2 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Food
Scallion pancakes GABBY BLAIR Staff writer, Jewish Press The quintessential Jewish American custom of eating Chinese food on Christmas has become a time-honored tradition for so many that it has become mainstream. It is not unusual today to find many families, Jewish or not, chowing down on chow mein on the holiday. With Covid closing restaurants in some places -and making in-person dining risky everywhere- there are (hopefully!) options for takeout, but if you are inspired to create your own Chinese food experience at home, these scallion pancakes (known in Chinese as Tsong Yu Bing) provide a wonderful fusion of both worlds - an Asian latke of sorts, if you will. While there are many recipe variations available online, some that even include our beloved shredded potatoes, the recipe below (courtesy of https://www.justataste.com) leans more towards the traditional; a crispy, chewy and savory Chinese layered fried flatbread that, according to legend, was the actual predecessor of pizza. If you are looking for a Chinese food fix over the holidays, why not try these simple fried scallion pancakes over Hanukkah for a little something different?
SCALLION PANCAKES Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the pancakes 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 3/4 to 1 cup boiling water 1 Tbsp. sesame oil 4 scallions (green parts only), thinly sliced 1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided Directions: Boil the water- it is important to use boiled water- not just hot tap water because it helps the flour bind to create a smooth, pliable dough. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse for 15 seconds. With the motor running, stream in 3/4 cup of boiling water. Continue processing until the dough balls up around the blade. If the dough does not come together, add more boiling water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms. Lightly flour your work surface then turn out the dough. Knead it for 30 seconds then cover it with a damp towel and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time (and keeping the remaining pieces covered with a damp towel), roll it out into an 8-inch circle. Brush it lightly with sesame oil then
sprinkle it with scallions. Roll the dough up into a log then shape it into a coil, tucking the end under the bottom of the coil. Flatten the coil slightly with your hand then roll it out again into a 7-inch circle. Set the pancake aside under the damp cloth while you repeat the rolling and filling process with the remaining pieces of dough. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to a medium skillet set over medium-low heat.
Once the oil is hot, add one pancake and cook it, turning frequently to prevent the scallions from burning, until it is golden brown and crispy on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the pancake to a plate or wire rack then repeat the cooking process with the remaining vegetable oil and pancakes. Cut the scallion pancakes into wedges, the way you would a pizza, and serve hot with a dipping sauce of your choice.
Have a Happy Hanukkah!
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The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | C3
Happy Hanukkah Sweet Hanukkah recipes from PJ Library GABBY BLAIR Staff writer, Jewish Press When you have a school-ager who likes to help in the kitchen, kid-friendly recipes help make it easy for everyone! While researching new ideas for Hanukkah this year, I was so pleased
to find that PJ Library had a webpage with 12 easy and kidfriendly ideas to get kids cooking in the kitchen because, let’s face it... no Jewish holiday is complete without food, and before you think it - yes- even Yom Kippur (I am looking at you, breakthe-fast traditions!). But first, a few sweet recipes for Hanukkah!
Nick & Tori Haussler-Lemek and family
Have a Happy Hanukkah from
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The winter holiday season around here has no shortage of holiday sugar cookies. You know the kind I am talking aboutgingerbread men, snowmen, trees, stars and candy canes. Why not make some fancy Hanukkah cookies that look like they have tiny windows of Chagall designed stained glass? I promise it isn’t hard to do, but they might be too pretty to eat! A hint from PJ Library: If making sugar cookie dough is not your forte or you are short on time, use pre-made dough, forget all the ingredients except the hard candy and skip to step 3! Ingredients: 1/2 cup softened butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 large egg 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup crushed hard candy
Directions: Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter; cream the mixture. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly-floured surface, roll out batter about 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Cut a small circle in the middle of each shape with a butter knife or smaller cookie cutter. Place shapes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the baking sheet, and carefully spoon 1/2 teaspoon of crushed hard candy into the center of each cookie. Bake for 4-5 more minutes, or until the candy has melted completely. Cool first for 15 minutes on baking sheet, then move to cooling rack.
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See PJ Library Hanukkah recipes page C7 for more recipes
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Wishing our friends and customers a Happy Hanukkah 6949 South 108th Street 402-592-6600
C4 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Shucks Fish House Bailey’s Breakfast Absolutely Fresh & Lunch Seafood Market & Oyster Bar At Shucks Fish House, we could not be happier with the support we received from the Omaha community over the last few months from the early days of carryout only service, to being able to go back to some semblance of normal with the full reopening of our dining rooms. It is very nice to see many of the familiar faces back, as well as many new faces who have discovered our restaurants. Since day one, keeping our customers and staff safe has been a big priority, and we continue to focus on this for the long term. The good news is, fresh oysters are back, a new menu is on the way, and thanks to the support of the community, we are back to our regular staffing levels. Shucks also offers online ordering for carryout through ChowNow at all 3 locations, as well as UberEats delivery and curbside pickup. Check out our daily specials at shuckfishhouse.com, and be sure to put us on your list of places to enjoy a nice lunch or dinner in the near future.
Transitioning from being a primarily dine-in business to carryout only was quite a challenge for us when the restrictions began back in March. Like many other local restaurants in Omaha, part of our allure was the comfortable and familiar setting for many regulars to enjoy breakfast, coffee, and conversations with friends and family. One of the first steps we took to adapt was offering online ordering through ChowNow to allow our customers to place orders fast and easy and have them brought out right to their cars. In addition, we simplified our menu to items that were more conducive to carryout, including some of our signature drinks. Since we have been allowed to go back to full dining room capacity, we continue to take extra precautions to make sure both our customers and staff remain safe and healthy. Be sure to check out baileysbreakfast.com to see our weekly specials, our full menu, and to start your online order fast and easy. We are open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day of the week. PAID ADVERTISEMENTS
The last few months have obviously been challenging for everyone, and we hope that everyone is safe and adapting to the changes in everyday life well. Our fish market has certainly risen to the occasion as our business has doubled for us over the last few months as many people were opting to cook at home versus getting carryout or dining in. To help adapt to this added business, we increased our staffing levels, expanded our inventory levels, and most recently launched online ordering for the products we sell. We are always happy to provide curbside pickup as well as our usual full service shopping experience inside our store. In addition, we have expanded our Take & Bake line of frozen entrées and appetizer to include multiple varieties of 16 inch pizzas with other new items appearing weekly. Our weekly newsletter debuts every Friday to announce what the latest featured Fresh Fish we have received is along with many other tasty and fun specials. To sign up for this, or to check out everything we have to offer, visit absolutely freshmarket.com where you can start your online order as well – fast and easy!
The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | C5
Food
The postHanukkah detox
Few things put us in the holiday mood as much as Latkes do- the excitement of stocking up on potatoes and onions, the prep, the smell of oil and the sizzle. Finally, the moment you bite into that first latke, salty and crispy and oh-so unhealthy, only to chase it down with a jelly donut... but when Hanukkah ends (okay, sometimes by the third or fourth day) and we’ve eaten our fill of fried foods, we need a little detox. Here are some lighter options for the days after the last candles have burnt out.
RAW CABBAGE SALAD Ingedients: 3 cups of raw cabbage 1/2 cup whole or sliced almonds appr. 15 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half 1 cup crumbled feta (optional in case you serve meat or poultry) 1/2 cucumber, chopped or sliced Directions: Mix all ingredients and drizzle some olive oil over the top. Serve as main dish, or as a side with your main meal.
RED CABBAGE This comes from the 1993 Beth Israel cookbook and was submitted by Mrs. Ernest Hochster. Coincidentally, this is how my own mother makes it (of course, back in the 1970s, it was often accompanied by boiled crumbly potatoes and meat balls). I have since learned it is just as good by itself. Ingredients: 1 red cabbage, washed, cleaned and chopped 1 large apple, peeled and sliced 1 Tbsp. vinegar 1 Tbsp. sugar 1 Tbsp. parve margarine salt and pepper to taste 1 Tbsp. flour Directions: Cook all ingredients except the flour in 3/4 cup of water until soft (about 40 minutes), then thicken with the flour. See Detox page C7 for more recipes
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Wishing You a Happy Hanukkah Associated Counseling P ro f e s s i o n a l s G l e n F i n e m a n , L I C S W, L I M H P C l i n i c a l S o c i a l Wo r ke r
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Add some color to your Hanukkah menu with these savory beet latkes ELISA SPUNGEN BILDNER This recipe originally appeared in The Nosher. These beet pancakes are great for using up a variety of other root vegetables. Using a food processor will make quick work of the shredding aspect of the preparation. With a nice browned crust, the latkes are delicious served with applesauce
or sour cream and chives, and offer a good alternative to hash browns at breakfast or brunch. This recipe is reprinted with permission from The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook, by Elisa Spungen Bildner and Rob Bildner, Countryman Press.
SAVORY BEET LATKES Ingredients: 1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (about 2 large) 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme 1 tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste 2 cups peeled and shredded red beets (about 11 ounces, 2 to 3 medium beets) 1 cup peeled and shredded carrots (about 6 ounces, 2 to 3 medium carrots) 1 cup peeled and shredded celery root (about 8 ounces, 1/2 small celery root) 1 cup peeled and shredded Idaho or russet potato (about 12 Credit: Clay Williams for The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook by Elisa Spungen Bildounces, 1 large potato) ner and Rob Bildner 1/4 cup rye or whole wheat flour, or Combine the cheese and egg in a small bowl. Fold into more as needed to hold the raw latkes together the vegetable mixture until well coated. 1 cup soft goat cheese (about 5 ounces) Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium 1 large egg, lightly beaten heat until shimmering. Working in batches so as not to 2 Tbsp. neutral oil, such as canola, plus more as crowd the pancakes, use a 1/4-cup measure to scoop the needed, for frying vegetable mixture into the skillet. Flatten the mixture Sour cream and chopped chives, or applesauce for gently, using the back of the measuring cup or a spatula, garnish (optional) making sure the pancakes do not touch each other. Fry for 4 to 5 minutes on one side, until browned and crisp, Directions: Prepare a plate with layers of paper towels to drain the and then flip to fry the other side for the same amount of time, or until browned and crisp. Transfer the latkes to pancakes. Place the scallions, thyme, salt, beets, carrots, celery the lined plate to drain. Repeat until the entire vegetable root, and potatoes in a large bowl and mix well. Use a mixture has been used. If more oil is needed for frying paper towel to gently squeeze out any excess moisture. subsequent batches, add as necessary. Serve the beet latkes warm with sour cream and chives Scatter the flour on top of the shredded vegetables and or with applesauce as a garnish. mix until well incorporated.
C6 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
Food
Five Hanukkah food hacks to make your holiday dinner easy and delicious pressure cooker with 1 cup of water, juice from 1/2 a lemon, LAUREN MANAKER and cinnamon to taste. After the lid is secure and the mixture This article originally appeared in Kveller. As the Festival of Lights approaches, you might be frying is cooked on high pressure for 8 minutes, mash up your apples latkes and making applesauce in your dreams. The food is de- to the consistency of your desire. Of course, you have to then licious and everyone is content and full, and above all, the make the most important decision: chunky or smooth? meal is mess and stress-free. Then reality sets in: You are seriously so busy this time of year! While you may want to instill some tasty Jewish traditions in your family, do you really have time to shred a few bags of potatoes, or knead some finicky sufganiyot dough? Thankfully, this is 2020 and not 1920. These days, our grocery store shelves are stocked with convenience foods, so use them to your advantage! If you know what to do, it’s super easy to make a delicious, “semi-homemade” Hanukkah meal that will still create lasting memories. Read on for our top Hanukkah food hacks — they’re kind of like having your sufganiyot and eating it, too. For easy latkes, use pre-shredded hash brown potatoes. No Hanukkah celebration is complete without latkes, but the prep work can be extremely time consuming, tedious, and possibly a bit dangerous (especially if you Credit: Getty Images have little helpers in the kitchen). But here’s some good news: Pro tip: Put a Johnny Apple Peeler on your Hanukkah wish It’s possible to have tasty latkes and not have bloody knuckles. list to help make the prep even easier! Refrigerated and bagged shredded potatoes make frying up Use pre-packaged biscuit dough for the easiest latkes a snap! Just swap out fresh taters with the bagged alter- sufganiyot ever. native in whatever recipe you use, and most people won’t even Kids generally love making treats like sufganiyot in the taste the difference. kitchen with their family. But when you’re having guests over, or if you’re generally not the type who enjoys baking, there’s a Make zero-effort homemade applesauce in an hack for that: Use refrigerated biscuit dough — the kind that Instant. Yes, you could just buy some jarred applesauce. But does comes in a tube — instead. (Just don’t tell Bubbie!) anyone with teeth (and, um taste buds) actually like the stuff ? Simply break apart the pre-portioned dough and fry the bisIf you have an Instant Pot — or any pressure cooker — you cuits in heated oil until golden on both sides. Amazingly, you can make homemade applesauce in a flash! don’t even have to cut circles. The biscuits come pre-sliced! Just toss eight peeled, cored, and chopped apples into the How perfect is that?
If you happen to have a pastry bag in your kitchen, fill it with your favorite jarred jelly and push the tip into the middle of the donut. Squeeze the jelly into the doughnut until it is filled with enough sweetness to make your dentist cringe. If you don’t have a pastry bag, you have a couple of options: You can cut your donuts in half and put some jelly in the middle of the pastry, like a sandwich, or simply serve jelly as an accompaniment to the fried biscuit for dipping. Pro-tip: Not sweet enough for you? You can also sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon on top of the warm doughnut to add a little more oomph if you wish! Let your slow cooker make the main dish. How exactly do you cook a brisket dinner for a crowd while also fulfilling all of your daily (as well as holiday-specific) obligations? By using a slow cooker, of course! This ultimate “set it and forget it” tool allows you to cook, slow and low, tough cuts of meat like brisket without any worries about overcooking. Even better? About 10 minutes of effort will reward you with a super-tasty result. Just toss a brisket ( fat side up) in a slow cooker with some cans of broth, sliced onions, carrots, garlic, and spices. Cook the dish on the high setting of the cooker for about 6 hours, or until tender. That’s it! Serve your brisket with latkes and a salad, and your dinner is complete. Pro-tip: For an easy-peasy but delightful serving option, slice up the cooked brisket and make it fancy-looking with some sprigs of fresh parsley. Fancy up store-bought hummus for an effortless appetizer. First things first: You can absolutely take a package of storebought hummus, serve it in its original packaging with some store-bought crackers, and that’s that. We won’t judge! But why not add some color and flavor to an otherwise standard app? Take your container of ho-hum hummus and spread it onto a shallow bowl. Scoop a small space into the middle of the hummus, and top the dip with extra virgin olive oil, fresh rosemary leaves, crushed pistachios, and pomegranate arils. If you have the time or inclination, you can include some roasted, diced butternut squash as a topping for some extra color. Or add whatever floats your boat! The decorative additions will hide the fact that you didn’t make the hummus from scratch. Pro-tip: Think beyond pita! Try serving the hummus with fresh veggies or pretzels. Anything dippable will do!
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The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020 | C7
PJ Library Hanukkah recipes Continued from page C3
NUTELLA POCKETS So many fried foods, so little time! Channeling the spirit of the Hanukkah Miracle, it is customary to indulge in fried foods over the eight-night holiday. If you are tired of heavy donuts and worried about polishing off your kid’s gelt supply before the next game of Dreidel, try making these crispy little Nutella Pockets. They will satisfy your family’s sweet tooth plus they’d look pretty fancy for the next Hanukkah party you throwAFTER COVID- of course! That should leave plenty of time to perfect the recipe, right? Obviously parents need to supervise the frying process, but kids are more than able to help with the assembly, plating and consumption of these!
ions t i d a t tr n e i c an nukkah ce e h t May of Hay and peyaear. jo t the g n i r b ughou thro
and Coffee 402-392-2600
HAPPY HANUKKAH
Ingredients: Vegetable oil Wonton wrappers Chocolate Hazelnut spread (Nutella) Banana, sliced in rounds to make coins 1 egg, beaten *Optional: Powdered sugar Directions: In a large sauté pan (or electric skillet), add oil until it is about 1 inch deep. Heat
over medium/high heat (between 375 and 400 degrees). Lay wonton wrapper flat. Add 1 teaspoon of Nutella, and top with a banana coin. Dip your finger in the egg, and run it along the edges of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half to form a triangle. Push down the edges to seal. Fry each wonton packet in oil, about one minute per side, and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
PINEAPPLE FRITTERS OK, so PJ library has this surprisingly easy and tasty recipe in its Hanukkah recipe section, but it is ALSO kosher for Passover... and it is gluten free... and it looks kinda like a donut but isn’t! Now that is a miracle! Seriously though, as a fan of all things pineapple, how did I not know about this before now?! Ingredients: 8 pineapple slices, 1/2 inch thick Batter Ingredients: 4 eggs, separated 2 Tbsp. potato starch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. cold water
2 Tbsp. sugar
L Chayim
Batter Directions: Beat eggs whites with wire whisk until frothy. Add yolks, starch and sugar and beat until smooth. Directions: Dip fruit slices into batter, coating completely. Heat oil or chicken fat in heavy skillet. Fry slices over medium heat on both sides until golden.
Detox Continued from page C5
LOX ROLL-UPS
RAW SPINACH SALAD
Directions: Spread a warmed-up tortilla with light cream cheese and lox; add some dill or other herbs to taste, roll up and slice in smaller portions. Can be made one day ahead of time and refrigerated. Alternative fillings include: deli-sliced chicken with mustard. Pastrami and mustard, or cream cheese and cucumber (slice cucumber very thin or they will make it difficult to roll up your tortilla).
Ingredients: 1 bag of spinach leaves 1 can of peaches, drained 1/2 cup of whole almonds
Directions: Toss together and add dressing: 1/2 cup water, 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise and 1 freshly pressed clove of garlic. Top off with 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese.
Best Wishes a Happy Hanukkah! Best Wishes for a for Happy, Healthy New Year! from
Arnie and Anne Anne Arnie
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C8 | The Jewish Press | December 4, 2020
HAPPY HANUKKAH