December 23, 2016

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Dance as Holocaust education

B’nai Israel Synagogue: ‘Just Jewish’ page 3

A Kidsummer Night’s Dream page 6

was somebody. Survivor testimony – both live and recorded – provides the listener with a real face and identity with which they can connect. Testimony restores to the victims their unique and rightful individuality. Poems, artwork, letters, and myriad other primary source materials can be used to round out an understanding of this dark period of history, providing the context necessary to understand the historical events and

to construct meaning from them.

Shulamit Imber, Pedagogical Director of the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem has written eloquently about the need for Holocaust education to evoke empathy. She writes: “... the aim of the educator must be to see the victim as an individual rather than as a statistic, and to communicate this idea to students. Doing so See Holocaust education page 3

Interdenominational dialogue Jewish media summit

A Syrian Jew’s message to Aleppo page 12

inside Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles

H

Liz FeLdSteRn Executive Director, Institute of Holocaust Education olocaust education can, and should, take many forms.

History lessons share the chronology and military and political events of WWII. Diaries, memoirs, and other forms of literature serve to humanize stories of the Holocaust – reminding readers that every one of the six million

9 10 11

nancy coRen for Jewish Federation of Lincoln Rabbi Shalom Hammer will address members of the Lincoln Jewish Federation on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. He will discuss Why Can’t We Get Along? Interdenominational Dialogue. His presentation will give an Orthodox perspective as to why the Orthodox rabbinate in Israel must necessitate interdenominational dialogue. He will explore what the source for resistance is and why it is mistaken. He will present a practical analysis of how differences in Judaism can be beneficial and how unity must be facilitated.

At the end of his presentation, Rabbi Hammer will also show a short film about the important work he does in the Jewish identity branch of the Israel Defense Forces.

Rabbi Shalom Hammer has lived in Israel for 27 years. He served under the Rabbinate Division of the Israeli Defense Forces and currently serves as a lecturer for the IDF to help motivate troops in all divisions and infuse Jewish identity. In addition, he is cur-

Rabbi Shalom Hammer rently involved in his own initiative offering lectures throughout the country on the basics of Judaism to many secular Kibbutzim and Moshavim. He also serves as a lecturer for The Israel Government Fellows of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and has authored five books. Rabbi Hammer is a contributing writer for the Jerusalem Post and is a renowned guest lecturer for communities throughout the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.

Rabbi Hammer will also work with the students of the Lincoln Jewish Community School on the afternoon of Jan. 11. At that time, he will tell A Soldier’s Story, focusing on Jewish unity as we relate to Israel.

teddy WeinbeRgeR For three days in early December, 50 editors, correspondents, and publishers from the world’s top Jewish media outlets gathered in Jerusalem for the second Jewish Media Summit. I and several other Israel-based writers attended, along with participants from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia, Turkey, and many European countries. A highlight of the Summit was our meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Right from the start the Prime Minister was impatient. It was clear that he had something important that he wanted to tell the Jewish world. He interrupted the very first question put to him by moderator Jane Eisner (editor of

The Forward), asking “Is this a speech or a question?” (It was, in fact, a question, concerning antisemitism and the Trump Administration. Netanyahu answered by saying that “Antisemitism is a fringe phenomenon in the United States of America,” though it should be opposed wherever it does appear.) And before Eisner could formulate her next question, Netanyahu again interrupted the proceedings and said (playfully, as we were soon to realize): “What about Israel’s growing isolation in the world? You’ve got to ask me about that. If you don’t, I’m going to ask it.”

Before Eisner took the bait and asked about Israel’s isolation, there were a few questions about other See Jewish media summit page 2

Tifereth Israel to learn about fake news

2 | The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016

community Jewish media summit

continued from page 1 issues. Asked about the failure to implement his own government’s decision to provide for egalitarian prayer at the Kotel (Western Wall), Netanyahu said that Israel’s political system “works in fits and starts.” And so, while on the one hand he declared firmly, “When I say that the Kotel is the Wall for all the Jews I, mean it.” On the other hand, he said: “It’s going to take time, it’s not so easy to do. I think we’ll resolve it. I hope.”

Concerning Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, Netanyahu said: “It was never and it’s still not about a Palestinian State. It’s always been about the Jewish State and the fact that there is a challenge to the Balfour Declaration 100 years later tells you that we haven’t come very far.”

And then Netanyahu finally got the question that he wanted. In answering, he proudly told us that rather than any “growing isolation,” the situation today is that “the great powers of Asia, the countries of Africa, the countries of Latin America are all coming to Israel, and it’s happening at an unbelievable pace.” Netanyahu said that his work schedule is so jam-packed with prime ministers, presidents, and foreign ministers that “I wish we had a little isolation because I could use the time.”

To explain Israel’s growing popularity, Netanyahu used the following acronym: TTP. Terror: Netanyahu said that militant Islam is a concern throughout the world, and that

“countries want to defend themselves, and Israel has a vast capability, especially an intelligence capability.”

Technology: In any area of technology, Netanayahu said, “Israel is at the nexus of the great change that is taking place.” Netanyahu pointed especially to the fields of cyber security (in 2016 Israel received over 20% of global private investment in this area) and driverless vehicles (Israel has 400 startups in this field alone). Netanyahu said that world leaders want to meet with him “not only to protect themselves against terrorism but to seize the future. And the fu-

ture is technology, and Israel is a global force in technology.”

Peace: Netanyahu said that he tells all the foreign leaders with whom he meets that Israel is willing “to negotiate peace immediately without any preconditions.” The fact that this hasn’t happened, he says, is because the Palestinians are not ready to negotiate.

And yet, Netanyahu said that the Middle East is growing a lot friendlier to Israel because “Many countries in the region understand that Israel is not their enemy but their ally in fighting militant Islam... in this indispensable battle for the future.”

The bottom line, said Netanyahu, is that “Israel’s situation in the world is changing at a dazzling pace.” Ultimately, he said, this “will be reflected in the way countries vote in the UN. You mark my words. It will happen...

It’s coming in a big way.” Netanyahu jokingly added: “I hate to be the bearer of good news about Israel. But this is great news.”

Netanyahu ended the meeting by saying: “If you are a country in Africa or in Asia or in Latin America and you want to increase your dairy production, or your water usage, or your solar energy, or your public health, or your IT sector, or your cyber security, Israel is the place.” He left us with the following: “People understand that Israel is a great force for good... We can improve the lives of many in the region and in the world. I think this is a tremendous source for hope and a tremendous source for the hope for peace.”

Joe Weber

nancy coren Tifereth Israel, Spiritual Leader Fake news is in the news and Joe Weber, the Jerry and Karla Huse Professor of News-Editorial and Associate Professor of Journalism, will be helping Tifereth Israel members understand the way fake news is impacting our understanding of current events. He will teach attendees at a lunch and learn session on Saturday morning, Jan. 21, how to evaluate the reliability of news reports.

Before coming to UNL, Joe worked in magazines and newspapers for 35 years. He spent most of that time, 22 years, reporting and writing for BusinessWeek, starting as a correspondent in Dallas and then running the magazine’s bureaus in Philadelphia, Toronto and Chicago. He took on the role of chief of correspondents for the organization in early 2006, serving until the summer of 2009.

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B’nai Israel Synagogue: Just Jewish

NaNcy Wolf shul she remembers from NYC. for B’nai Israel Synagogue It must be filling some void. ere are a number of us who erhaps you have been called to participate in the believe in the importance of maintaining the Jewish Hercommunity survey designed to estimate the itage in southwest Iowa. scope and breadth of Omaha-area Jewishness. If Some members grew up at B’nai Israel. Some grew up in so, then you will know that one of the questions Orthodox homes, some in secular, and many in between. asks the respondent to declare their Jewish identity; Orthodox? Conservative? Reform? Just Jewish?

Well, if we asked the same question of the synagogues, and if their walls could talk, B’nai Israel in Council Bluffs would say: “Just Jewish”! e membership of B’nai Israel synagogue is diverse, interesting and growing. (An increase of 60% in four years.) Even though the Jewish population of Council Bluffs is not growing, B’nai Israel does seem to fill a niche for some, and we’re happy to say our doors are still open, if only one Friday evening per If these walls could talk, they would say, “We love our new look-- just the way we used to look! month.

Our members come from far and wide across the States, Several have been, or are, active in other congregations, most from Omaha, a few from Council Bluffs. Many mainraising families, celebrating and commemorating lifecycle tain memberships in other Omaha congregations, Orthoevents, and come together the second Friday of the month dox, Conservative, Reform and support Chabad. Some to share Shabbat with friends. members call B’nai Israel home. At least one person has So at B’nai Israel Synagogue in Council Bluffs, if the walls shared that their new membership at B’nai Israel is the first could talk, they would say, “Yes, we’re just Jewish! Please synagogue membership in more than three decades. One join us the second Friday evening for our speaker series. longtime member says the building brings memories of the You’re always welcome at B’nai Israel!”

s k n a h T c 2016! sti a t n a f a r

fo

David and Bobbi Leibowitz 402-496-7499 | OmahaHouses.com

Holocaust education

continued from page 1 or to include your school group, visit https://omahaperfo evokes a sense of empathy with the victims, as they bermingarts.org/learn-and-engage/student-programs/ come real people with human identities and aspirations. student-matinee-series. The IHE developed a multiThe empathy created allows students and teachers to dischapter “Study Guide” specific to The Legacy Project, cuss the Holocaust more meaningfully.” which will allow teachers to appropriately prepare stuThe moral imperative to teach about the Holocaust and dents and impart the historical context prior to attending to instill that sense of empathy with its victims has inthe performance. spired the Institute for Holocaust Education (IHE) to seek With all of the various educational offerings, the IHE out broad and innovative ways to educate on this topic. A hopes to reach as many as 1,000 students with the project. new platform for Holocaust education will be brought to The goal is that by expanding the definition of Holocaust our community as Carolyn Dorfman Dance joins us for a education, we can encourage greater numbers of students residency, January 16-20, 2017. Choreographer Carolyn to consider what it means to be human and humane. We Dorfman is the daughter of are spurred on in this work Holocaust survivors and she Not a student? The residency will have something for you, too! by the following quote: (along with her incredibly A public performance of The Legacy Project: A Dance of Hope “Dear Teacher, talented dancers) has develI am a survivor of a conwill take place at the Orpheum Theater on Jan. 19 at 7:30 oped workshops that centration camp. My eyes p.m. Tickets are available at https://www.ticketomaha.com. saw what no person should demonstrate how dance can PROMO CODE “PRESS” is valid for $5.00 off all PL and PL2 witness: gas chambers built be used as a tool to express tickets. This offer is valid through Jan. 13. personal identity and stoby learned engineers. Chilries. These workshops indren poisoned by educated spire students to use the lens of the Holocaust, and then physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and bathink more broadly about other marginalized groups, cul- bies shot by high school and college graduates. So, I am sustures, and identities. Groups at both Omaha South High picious of education.

School and Northwest High School will participate in My request is: workshops with the Dorfman dancers during the week.

Help your children become human. Your efforts must The IHE will visit the schools in advance to provide stunever produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths or edudents with historical context, including background infor- cated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are immation about the Holocaust and the factors that allowed it portant only if they serve to make our children more to take place. human.”

Dorfman and her dancers will also meet with the 8th – Excerpt from a letter written by a principal to his grade students from all three synagogues for an interactive teachers, published in Teacher and Child by Dr. Haim session on Jewish identity and heritage. Both Temple IsGinott, 1972 rael and Beth El include the Holocaust in their 8th grade The Carolyn Dorman Dance Residency is made possible curriculum. The workshop’s powerful historical and culby a collaboration with Omaha Performing Arts, and gentural journey will include an opportunity for students to erous financial support from the Slosburg Family Charitacreate and critique their own expressive art. ble Trust, Simon Family Charitable Trust, Steve & Patty The highlight of the Carolyn Dorfman Dance resiNogg, and Bruce & Anne Shackman. dency’s educational efforts will be the Student Matinee An intimate conversation with Carolyn Dorfman will performance of The Legacy Project: A Dance of Hope at also take place at the JCC Theater on Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. the Orpheum Theater on Jan. 18 at 10:30 a.m. With tickThis event will celebrate the 38th anniversary of the JCC’s ets just $4 and open to all school groups (grades 5 and dance program. above), the performance will combine the Dorfman family For more information on any of these events, contact story with a universal struggle for identity. For more info the IHE at info@ihene.org or 402.334.6576.

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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

You’re always welcome at B’nai Israel!

it’s not just an adventure, it’s a job In 1976, when I was 15, a company called Bates Advertising came up with one of the longest-running slogans ever: “Navy. It’s Not Just a Job, It’s An Adventure.” The slogan officially ran until 1986. While I did not enlist in the Navy, the slogan powerfully influenced how I viewed military service (interestingly, the first word has been forgotten by many people, though teddy they do remember that the slogan had WeinBerGer something to do with the military).

With my childhood memories of protests against the Vietnam War receding, I was captivated more and more by the machismo of military service. Of course, following the slogan’s lead, I didn’t actually think of it as service but as some kind of glamorous, exciting life for which you get paid.

It’s been hard for me to break this childish view of the military although now, with one of my children in a combat unit, I have learned to think of the military not just as an adventure but as a job -- and in Elie’s case, a very demanding and dangerous job. Still, when listening to Elie tell of his service, I am tempted to think at times: Cool, that sounds like fun! In truth, some of the things that Elie does do sound highly appealing: trekking in the woods, practicing martial arts, going to a shooting range with a variety of powerful weapons, studying and implementing camouflage techniques, riding in jeeps and helicopters, learning how to scan and “read” foreign terrain, etc. But the army often has a way of spoiling the fun, such as by having you hold one side of a very heavy stretcher while trekking, or by scheduling your martial arts class right upon the conclusion of an exhausting 10-mile run, or by staging shooting practice in the rain and cold, or by having you set up camouflage with 40 pounds of ammunition strapped to you, or by holding your helicopter

Israel experience

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PRINTERS POSTAGE METERS COPIERS DIGITAL DISPLAYS FOLDING & INSERTING EQUIPMENT INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS aBBy reiss During the Mega Teen trip to Israel, the part that impacted me the most was volunteering at the food bank. I love that when we work as a group we are very efficient and we accomplish a lot in a timely manner. We worked as an assembly line packing fruit and vegetables to be delivered to residents in the area that are in need. I think it was really great for my group to get really excited and work hard for something that will benefit their community.

We also visited the Western Wall which was an amazing experience. Visiting the Western Wall was when I really realized I was somewhere special and important. I enjoyed riding camels through the desert and sleeping in a Bedouin tent that night. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the food there.

Organizations

B’nai B’rith BreadBreakers

Long-time Jewish gun owner, eric shapiro will host a conversation about the 2nd Amendment, around the theme “Guns? A threat or a boon to our republic?” on Wednesday, dec. 28, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

ride at 3 a.m. When you start to investigate, each of the “fun” elements in the life of an elite combat soldier starts to look less fun and more like something that you would not choose to do unless it was a job and/or for an extremely good cause.

Once you get into the military reserves, the job seems much more worth it. Though you are supposed to complain to your wife about how the reserves have thrown your life into a tizzy, plenty of men welcome the opportunity to change their routine and to see their old army buddies, and the State is supposed to reimburse you for the salary that you would have earned had you not been called up to the reserves (during your mandatory service you are paid only a token amount; Elie, at the high end of the scale, receives about $427 a month). If we put aside the possibility that you may be called up during a time of war, serving in the reserves seems like a pretty good short-term job.

I have never served in the military and never will, and so I am jealous of my friends and of my children who have.

And my four other children (all non-combatants) join me in being jealous of Elie. If Elie’s service is simply a very dangerous job, then this would be puzzling, but of course it’s not just that. Elie and the other combat soldiers see to it that the people of Israel remain safe. As such, elite combat solders like Elie are accorded the deepest respect in Israeli society. For a person who never got a chance at such a position (such as my children and me), this can stir up feelings of jealousy. But those feelings are quite minor, hardly even felt, when compared to our love for him and to our feeling extremely proud of him. And recently Elie was selected to be one of the trainers of new recruits to his unit -so we are even prouder.

Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest four, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie and Ezra are veterans of the Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@net vision.net.il.

Launching Pom-Poms Beth cOhen Head of School, Friedel Jewish Academy

Friedel Jewish academy’s 3rd and 4th graders have been learning about simple machines. they each created a catapult as an example of a lever. to incorporate the scientific method, they formed a hypothesis as to which type of catapult would launch pom-poms the farthest. after collecting the data, they used it to learn about averages in math class and created colorful charts to display their results.

Temple Tots

scOtt Littky Program Director, Temple Israel

temple tots sunday Mornings program under the direction of dani howell enjoy crafts, Jewish stories and opportunity to meet new friends. the program is for children four years old and younger. the next meeting will be on sunday, Jan. 11 at 10:30 a.m. in the social hall at temple israel. For more information, please contact dani howell at 402-680-4363.

intergenerational jam

The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016 | 5

community rabbi shalom hammer: Jewish identity in Israel

Pictured top: alexis and ron Budwig and bottom: rick eirenberg and joshua, a student at Buffett Middle school.

Students in Mrs. Tunning’s Honors Reading class are participating in a book study with residents at the Rose Blumkin Home. Students will get to know the residents by sharing stories and discussing the book over the next few months. The students are reading The War That Saved My Life by Brubaker Bradley along with residents at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Tifereth Israel’s Lunch and Learn Shabbat Scientist Series

nancy coren Tifereth Israel, Spiritual Leader Tifereth Israel’s Shabbat Scientist Series will feature Robert Hutkins, UNL’s Kem Shahani professor of Food Science. Bob, often called the “Food Doc” in the Journal Star article he writes once a month, will address the topic of the management of food crises.

His presentation will follow services at our lunch and learn series robert hutkins on saturday, jan. 14.

Bob has been part of UNL’s faculty since 1987. His lab studies bacteria that are important in human health and in fermented foods.

Mary sue GrossMan Executive Director, Beth Israel Synagogue here continues to be on-going discussion in Jewish communities about Jewish identity. What is the best way of guaranteeing the next generation maintains a strong Jewish identity?

Surprisingly, this is a discussion taking place in Israel as well. Many, many young secular Israelis lack a true Jewish identity. Beth Israel’s next Scholar-inResidence is actively involved with the IDF’s efforts in helping young soldiers understand and embrace their Jewish idenrabbi shalom hammer tity. Rabbi Shalom Hammer is a senior lecturer for the Jewish Identity Branch of the IDF, providing Jewish identity training for secular soldiers. The weekend of Jan. 12-13, Rabbi Hammer will give three presentations related to both identity and other issues in Israel.

Rabbi Shlomo Abramovich, Beth Israel’s Visiting Scholar, was a student of Rabbi Hammer’s in high school. “Rabbi Hammer was an energetic and passionate educator, committed to teaching his students Torah and Jewish values,” Rabbi Shlomo shared. “I look forward to welcoming him to Omaha and seeing him share his passion with the community.”

The weekend begins on Friday, Jan. 13 with services at 5 p.m. which will include a special Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat. Following the style of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, the service will feature the melodies Rabbi Carlebach composed for many prayers. Shabbat dinner begins at 6 p.m., following services. Dinner will include soup, chicken, roasted vegetables, challah, and dessert. The cost is $12 for adults, $6 for children ages four-12 and free for those under three.

Reservations are needed by Jan. 9. Following dinner, Rabbi Hammer will give a presentation entitled What Are We Fighting For? The Challenges of Instilling Ideology in the IDF. His talk is based on inspiring ideas delivered to IDF reservists at a gathering promoting unification. The lecture is anecdotal and includes analysis from the Torah on how as-

sessing the needs of the collective and promoting communal values secures the future of the land of Israel.

The Scholar-in-Residency weekend continues Saturday, Jan. 10, beginning with Shacharit at 9 a.m. Following the December Simcha Kiddush, Rabbi Hammer will speak on Israel’s Struggle for Survival and Vison of Continuity. The presentation will focus on the vision that allows Israel to maintain positive perspectives, envision a dream and perpetuate the future of the Jewish nation.

Rabbi Hammer’s final presentation will take place on Saturday afternoon during Seudah Shlishit, at 4:45 p.m. The Awakening of Jewish Identity in Israel will examine why secular Israelis are beginning to identify more with their Judaism and what is being done to advance this trend.

Rabbi Hammer, who has lived in Israel for 27 years, served under the Chaplaincy for the Israel Defense Forces and was an educator in Israeli institutions such as the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem and the Hesder Yeshiva affiliated with Sderot, which promotes Torah study together with service in combat forces of the IDF. He is currently involved in his own initiative offering lectures throughout the country on the basics of Judaism to many secular kibbutzim and moshavim. He also serves as a lecturer for The Israel Government Fellows of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and has authored five books. Rabbi Hammer is a contributing writer for the Jerusalem Post and is a renowned guest lecturer for communities throughout the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.

Rabbi Hammer will also speak in Lincoln as a guest lecturer for the Lincoln Jewish Federation on Wednesday evening, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 3219 Sheridan Blvd. His topic will be Why Can’t We Get Along? Interdenominational Dialogue.

Reservations for Shabbat dinner are needed by Jan. 10 and can be made by calling the Beth Israel office at 402.556.6288, emailing bethisrael@orthodoxomaha.org, or through the synagogue website at www.orthodoxomaha. org. All events are open to the community. For additional information, please call 402.556.6288.

jewish press notices

The Jewish Press will be closed on Monday, Dec. 26 and Monday, jan. 2.There will be no Jewish Press on jan. 6, 2017. Questions?

Call 402.334.6448.

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community

On Saturday, Dec. 17 and Sunday, Dec. 18, the cast and crew of the JCC Musical Theater Community Acting Group showed off their considerable talents in A Kidsummer Night’s Dream. There were magical dancing fairies, a Duke and a Queen, messy lover’s quarrels and lots and lots of mischief. Please visit our facebook page to see more photos: https://www.facebook.com/ShalomahaPress/.

One very exciting part of any performance is the announcement of the next show. This spring, it will be Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!

Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story.

Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road.

Auditions will be held Sunday, Jan. 22 in the JCC Theater. Adults are welcome from 1-2 p.m., Those between eight and 18 will audition from 3-4:30 p.m. Registration is required to audition; costs is $145 for members, and $181 for non members. To register, visit http:// www.jewishomaha.org/jcc/arts-and-culture/ or call Registrar Laura Wine at 402.334.6419.

The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016 | 7

Sufganyot at BBYO

C

A special thank you to Yael, a visiting Shlicha, for teaching our BBYO teens how to make Sufganiot (Hanukkah jelly donuts) on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Everyone enjoyed making the dough, rolling it out, filling them with jelly, and participating in a Kahoot while the dough was rising!

2016: The best year yet to give to charity haritable giving and year-end tax planning go hand-in-hand. With tax laws still quite favorable to charitable giving and stock markets at record highs, HOwArD EpSTEin this 2016 year end Executive Director, may be the best ever JFO Foundation to give your gifts to charity. The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation is here to help.

• Establish (or add to) an endowment fund before Dec. 31, with a gift of $10,000 or more, and an anonymous donor will add $1,000 to your endowment fund – no strings attached – and you select the causes and programs within Omaha’s Jewish community that will benefit from your gift for years to come.

• Open a new donor-advised fund or add to an existing one before Dec. 31. You retain

the right to recommend distributions to your favorite charities – Jewish or secular – local or national – at times convenient to you.

• Consider a gift of appreciated stock to the Foundation. If you transfer that stock directly from your investment account to the Foundation’s account, the full value of your gift will be tax deductible AND you will NOT PAY capital gains tax. That is a double win for you, and a win for Omaha’s Jewish community and the charities you support.

None of us knows what changes our new president and congress will make to the tax laws in the coming years. We do know that the current tax laws favor charitable giving.

Act now to minimize your 2016 tax burden and maximize the impact of your charitable gifts.

There are only eight days left in this calendar year. Visit the Foundation’s website for more information at www.jfofoundation.org or contact Howard N. Epstein, Executive Director at 402.334.6466 or by email at hepstein@jewishomaha.org.

Greetings Jewish Press readers

efforts to further enhance public safety, significantly JEAn STOTHErT Mayor of Omaha increase our funding for critical infrastructure and Thank you for the opportunity to outline my vi- street repair, and implement improved public transsion for a stronger, safer, and more supportive city portation options. In addition, we will provide more support for neighborhood initiatives, complete numerover the next four years.

The efforts of so many community leaders and ous high-profile and exciting development projects, organizations in Omaha during my time as mayor and support entrepreneurship and small business.

Omaha is a caring and generous community and has provided the foundation for what we hope to I enjoy working with so many dedicated community accomplish.

Overall crime is down, 56 new police officers are leaders and volunteers.

During the last four years, I have had many opon the streets, city savings accounts are at record highs, budget deficits of the past have been fixed, the portunities to learn about and support efforts imcity property tax rate has been reduced twice, and portant to the Jewish Community. Thank you for transparency across city government has improved. including me in events for B’nai B’rith and the Just as importantly, we’ve dedicated the public Chabad House. I am proud to support the Tri-Faith resources necessary for more job training, enhanced Initiative and the work being done to improve intersummer youth employment opportunities, and more faith understanding and promote shared values. high quality affordable housing. The new Human It is an honor and privilege to serve as the mayor Services Campus in North Omaha will bring needed of Omaha and I respectfully ask for your support assistance to homeless men, women and families. this spring for a second term. Thank you.

Over the next four years, I look forward to leading PAID ADVERTISEMENT

8 | The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016

Adult Education at Temple Israel

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February

Rabbi Darryl Crystal

space reservation | 01.25.17

camera ready deadline | 01.27.17

Promote your business in this special issue with an ad and a short article.

Contact our advertising executive to advertise in this very special edition.

Susan Bernard | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org

Cantor Wendy Shermet

SCott Littky Program Director, Temple Israel Our devotion to education is central to our longevity as a people. We are taught that our education continues all of our life. Many Jewish scholars have taught us the purpose and meaning of a solid Jewish education. In Avot 2:7 we are taught, “The more schooling, the more wisdom.� A Jewish education is not just for the student, but is important for the teacher as well. In Midrash Tehillim we find the statement, “As you teach, you learn.�

Through our devotion to a Jewish education, we as a people can accomplish many tasks. In Talmud Kiddushin, we read:“Study leads to action.� During the months of January and February, there will be an opportunity to explore a number of options in our Adult Education Program.

Rabbi Darryl Crystal will teach our adult education classes on Wednesday evenings, Jan. 11 and 18. On Jan. 11, join his class Judah-the Birth of a Hero: Uncovering the Wisdom of the Torah. Rabbi Crystal said: “Judah is one of the most enigmatic heroes of the Torah. His story begins at a low point when he and his brothers sold Joseph into slavery. He begins to redeem himself as the leader over the next 20 years as he becomes a spokesman for righteousness to save his family. King David, the greatest leader of the Jewish people, is a descendent of Judah. Further, we will explore how Judah evolves from sin to salvation.�

Starting Jan. 18, Rabbi Crystal’s will teach The Binding of Isaac: 2,000 Years of Struggle with the Torah: “God’s call to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah is one of the most troubling stories in the Torah,� Rabbi Crystal said. “How could a loving God make this demand? We will explore responses to this dilemma from the time of the Rabbis until today. Questions to be considered include: Was Abraham really going to sacrifice Isaac? How does the test of Abraham relate to the test of Job? What happens to Isaac after his ordeal on Mount Moriah?�

Rabbi Crystal’s classes on Jan. 11 and 18

begin at 6:30 p.m. in Rooms A and B at Temple Israel and conclude at 8 p.m. All are welcome to attend. If there are any questions about these classes, please contact Program Director Scott Littky at 402.556.6536.

The next two weeks of Adult education on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. will be devoted to learning more about the Tri-Faith. The next course is Let’s Meet our Tri-Faith Neighbors.

Before we know it, the American Muslim Institute and Countryside Community Church will move into their new buildings on Sterling Ridge Drive.

Jan. 25, Rev. Eric Elnes, Ph.D., Senior Minister of Countryside, will help us gain an understanding of the beliefs and principles in the their movement, the United Church of Christ. Feb. 1, a representative from the American Muslim Institute will aid us in learning more about the principles and practices of Islam. As with all of our classes, all are welcome to attend.

When our Thursday morning classes resume on Jan. 5 at 10 a.m., Rabbi Deana Berezin will continue with her class, The Magic of Rituals. Rabbi Berezin said: “Ritual is one of the cornerstones of Judaism, becoming the way in which we mark significant, transitional moments in our lives. In this class, we will explore Jewish rituals: where do they come from? How have they evolved? What makes a ritual successful? And most importantly, how can we reimagine and reinvent rituals to become meaningful markers in our lives?�

The final session of this class will be Thursday, Jan. 12.

Thursday, Jan. 19 at 10 a.m., Cantor Wendy Shermet will teach her class Amsterdam, Prague and Malta: A Jewish Journey.

Last winter, Cantor Shermet had the opportunity to visit these places. In her class, students will explore the sights and sounds of the Jewish communities in these locations.

The class will continue through Feb. 23.

For more information on any of these educational opportunities or any other programs at Temple Israel, please contact Program Director Scott Littky, 402.556.6536.

Dear Editor, Joel Alperson stated in a recent Letter to the Editor that an E-news post by Federation CEO Alan Potash contained inappropriate comments regarding the 2016 election. Among other things, Mr. Alperson said that he was worried about the “growing intrusion of politics into our Jewish community discourse and programing.�

What Mr. Alperson is really saying is that he doesn’t want politics to intrude in our discussions unless he agrees with what is being said. Several years ago he had no problem supporting talk show host Dennis Prager when hired by Temple Israel as a Scholar in Residence. Mr. Prager was and is well known for his far-right politics, including positions against marriage equality and abortion rights.

Mr. Alperson believes that it is fine to give Mr.

Prager a weekend to discuss politics with the Jewish community, but a bad idea for Alan Potash to do the same thing. The only difference – Mr. Alperson agrees with Mr. Prager’s politics, but not Mr. Potash’s. As my mother used to say, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Mr. Alperson also notes that Jews have more important things to do than discuss or debate political events. If fact, the opposite is true. Politics has always been important to us. We have principles, and we stand and fight for them.

Finally, Mr. Alperson claims that years ago he “did not see political messages coming from the pulpit� as he does today. Were he alive, I bet Rabbi Sidney Brooks would disagree.

Paul Landow, Ph.D.

LetteR to the eDitoR

publishing date | 02.03.17

Rabbi Deana Berezin

The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016 | 9

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Are we cool?

ANNeTTe vAN de kAmp-WRighT Editor of the Jewish Press y daughter has invited a few of her closest friends to have pre-Hanukkah Shabbat at our house. All except one (who is out of town) immediately accepted, so come Friday night, we’ll be subjected to some 20+ enthusiastic guests. They are mostly non-Jewish, and they’ll abandon their various Christmas parties so they can eat latkes, experience sufganyot-induced stomachaches and learn the finer points of playing dreidel. It’ll be fun.

“This is so cool,” one of them tells my daughter. “Being Jewish is cool. Wait; can I say that?”

It’s an interesting question. While ‘cool’ is not necessarily the adjective I would choose, I certainly prefer it over other, less friendly, ones. There are plenty of alternatives when it comes to how Jews are described, and they aren’t only found in history books.

On Friday, Dec. 16, Stormfront founder Andrew Anglin published an incendiary bit of propaganda that called on white supremacists to harass Jewish people in the town of Whitefish, Montana. In it, he describes Jews as “a vicious, evil race of hate-filled psychopaths” and “a people without shame.” (Hannah Gold for Jezebel.com) And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

In early October, Ben Wofford wrote in a Politico article about the renaissance of outspoken anti-Semitism: “To some young Jews, this election season has felt like a cold shower. “Whether you experienced no anti-Semitism growing up, or a watered-down version of it, I think most young people felt like anti-Semitism was dying,” says Debbie Rabbinovich, 19, a sophomore and Hillel member at the University of Pennsylvania. Other young activists were reconsidering what they had heard for years from an older generation. “For a long time we were told that anti-Semitism was everywhere, and we rolled our eyes at that,” says Mor-

riah Kaplan, 24, a leader in the left-leaning activist group If Not Now. But, she acknowledged, “This feels like the closest thing to the type of anti-Semitism that my grandparents talk about experiencing in Poland.” (politico.com) With the surge in hate speech, both online and in the ‘real’

world, come new challenges in how to respond to it. We have, I’m afraid, for the last few decades bought into the public myth that anti-Semitism is mostly on its way out. So we have to ask ourselves, is it back, or is it just more widely reported? Was this a consequence of the election, or is that an excuse we tell ourselves? When we see and hear antiSemitic language used, do we still treat it as an incident, an outlier, or is it becoming normalized while we speak?

At the November national meeting of the Anti Defamation League, Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, admitted to struggling with that exact question: “I wonder whether I have been -- and I think the answer is probably yes -- a little bit naive.”

(Fortune.com) Whatever we choose to do next, we are having this debate in an extremely polarized environment. Some of you think that a Trump Presidency is the worst thing ever, while some of you voted for him. But we are all equally affected by the current climate. Someone very smart once told me: “When they put us on the train, no one asked about our individual disagreements or what kind of Jews we considered ourselves to be.”

Over the top? Maybe. But there’s the rub: while we debate and talk and ponder and dance around the issues, something ugly is stirring in this country, Credit: JTA and we need to open our eyes to it. And if you want to get mad at me for implying this election has opened those floodgates, fine. But please don’t use it as an excuse to not pay attention to the massive increase in hate speech.

So yes; when all is said and done, when someone calls us ‘cool,’ I think I’m okay with that. When that someone is a high school student, it gives me hope that sanity will prevail.

While Israel tarries on pluralism, the Diaspora may be running out of patience ANdReW SACkS JERUSALEM | JTA Like many of my friends, I grew up in the United States with a strong affinity for Israel. As a child, we saved money to buy trees, learned Israeli songs, studied Hebrew, visited Israel and marched in Israeli Independence Day parades. I recall well that my parents encouraged me to give part of my bar mitzvah gifts to Israel. Ultimately, I made aliyah.

Tensions arise whenever the interests of two parties may not perfectly align. This seems to be occurring more frequently between the North American Jewish community, with its pluralistic nature, and an Israeli government that gives in to haredi Orthodox demands over promises and commitments made to the Jewish communities in the Diaspora.

Just a year ago, Israel’s prime minister stated that the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency will for the first time invest in the development of Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations in Israel. He went on to say, “As prime minister of Israel, I will ensure that all Jews – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox – feel at home in Israel.”

On Jan. 31, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved an agreement to create an egalitarian prayer space along the Western Wall and establish a governing body to administer the venue.

This was the result of three years of intense negotiations, with Netanyahu’s top adviser serving as the negotiator.

Thus far, no money has been forthcoming for non-Orthodox congregations and the Western Wall agreement has not been put in place. Excuses abound. Mr. Netanyahu has called for patience. But how long can one be patient when it becomes increasingly clear that the situation is only worsening? Shas, a fervently Orthodox political party, has just introduced legislation that would scuttle the entire Western Wall agreement and create strictly haredi oversight to the area, including the site designated for egalitarian worship.

For the past three years, five Ugandan Jews, known as Abayudaya, have been trying to come

to Israel to study at the Conservative yeshiva. All are converts to Judaism through the Masorti/ Conservative movement. The Jewish Agency has accepted the Abayudaya as a “recognized community.” But despite written assurances from the Prime Minister’s Office that visas would be issued, student visas have yet to be forthcoming.

Orthodox Jews trying to prevent a group of Conservative and Reform rabbis and Women of the Wall members from bringing Torah scrolls into the Western Wall compound in Jerusalem, Nov. 2, 2016.

Credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90 The one member of this community who applied for aliyah has had his paperwork sit in the offices of the Interior Ministry for over two years.

A group of nine Masorti/Conservative Jews by choice from Venezuela applied to immigrate to Israel in April. After receiving the required documents, the Jewish Agency approved their aliyah.

The Interior Ministry, however, has demanded a series of redundant and unnecessary additional documents; they have all been submitted. The situation in Venezuela is dangerous. Beyond the civil strife and collapsed economy, food and medicines are in very short supply. But none of this seems to worry the Interior Ministry officials, who act as though they are above the laws of our country.

But this should come as no surprise. The minister of the interior, Rabbi Arye Deri, said recently: “Last week someone said that the Reform are our brothers, but we completely disagree with them.

We reject their ways, etc. The truth is that they are

NOT our brothers and we do not want such brothers. Those that stick a knife in the back of the Jewish people cannot be our brothers. Those who are the cause for the assimilation of millions of Jews cannot be our brothers. No how -- no way! Such a person is an adversary and an enemy. One who mocks and prostitutes our tradition, that is to say, all of the holy Torah of the Jewish people for which we have sacrificed our lives from generation to generation for thousands of years, is not a brother.

One who is a traitor and betrays his parents, grandparents, and all of the generations that came before, is not a brother. Not even a lost brother.

He has thrown off the yoke and one must fight against him with all means available, and never give any sort of recognition nor any foothold.”

So while the prime minister calls on the leaders of the non-Orthodox movements, both here in Israel and in the Diaspora, to be patient, the Venezuelan Nine live in daily fear as they do their best to survive. The Ugandan Five wonder why their beloved Israel turns her back on them.

I, too, wonder. Two weeks back, Knesset member Dudu Amsalem, chair of the Israeli parliament’s Internal Affairs Committee, ended a hearing about the Western Wall agreement by stating: “I just don’t care about any favors the Jews in the Diaspora do for us” in support of Israel. “The Jews of North America should have no right to influence our policy. If this insults them, so be it. They are not doing us any favors.”

So there you have it. A prime minister who fails to honor his commitments. An interior minister who reviles the non-Orthodox -- and he is far from the only such member of the Knesset.

And the chair of an important government committee who, in his ignorance, dismisses the Diaspora community with ease.

Maybe they are right. Maybe Israel can stand on her own without the backing of the Jews of the Diaspora. Maybe. But I, for one, doubt it.

Rabbi Andrew Sacks directs the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel and the Bureau for Religious Affairs of the Masorti movement.

10 | The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016

synagogues b’nai iSrael Synagogue

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 402.322.4705 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

congregaTion b’nai JeShurun

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

offuTT air force baSe

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244

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

TifereTh iSrael

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

b’nai iSrael Synagogue

Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Mary-Beth Muskin, Regional Director of ADL-CRC Plain States Region on ADL-Now more than ever. Oneg to follow service. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel! Our services are led by lay leader Larry Blass.

For information on our historic synagogue, please contact any of our board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Phil Wolf.

beTh el Synagogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. friday: Gift Shop Hanukkah Sale, 10 a.m.-noon; Lunch at Nebraska AIDS Coalition, 11:30 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.

SaTurday: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:45 p.m. weekday ServiceS: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.

Sunday: Switch Day at the Blumkin Home, Sunday, dec. 25, 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; No BESTT Classes; No Torah Study; Congregational Hanukkah Dinner, 6 p.m. monday: Synagogue Office Closed; Morning Service, 9 a.m.

TueSday: Rabbi Abraham’s Ethics & Values: A Jewish Guide to Life’s Most Difficult Questions, noon at Whole Foods. wedneSday: No BESTT Classes; Rabbi Abraham’s Ethics & Values -- A Jewish Guide to Life’s Most Difficult Questions, 6:15 p.m.

No BESTT Classes and No Torah Study, Sunday, Jan. 1 Synagogue Office Closed, monday, Jan. 2.

No BESTT Classes, wednesday, Jan. 4.

All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

beTh iSrael Synagogue

Office hours: Closed Mondays, Dec. 26 and Jan. 2; TuesdayThursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv & Kabbalat Shabbat, 4:42 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 4:42 p.m.

SaTurday-erev hanukkah: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Insights in the Weekly Portion, 3:35 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 4:25 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:47 p.m.

Sunday: Shacharit, 9 a.m. monday: Synagogue Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Read Hebrew America, 7:30 p.m. with Rabbi Shlomo at the Rose Blumkin Home.

TueSday: Shacharit, 7 a.m. wedneSday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Hanukkah Carnival, 6:30 p.m.

ThurSday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ethics Class with Rabbi Ari, 7:45 a.m.; Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m.; Scholars Club, 4:30 p.m.; Avot U-Banim, 7 p.m.

Synagogue Office Closed, monday, Jan. 2.

chabad houSe

Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing.

SaTurday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. followed by a kiddush luncheon; Light first Hanukkah candle on Shabbat after 5:47 p.m.

Sunday: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m. followed by Sunday Secrets: Jewish Fun Facts class at 9:15 a.m. weekdayS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. monday: Camp Gan Israel, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. for ages 3-10; Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani.

TueSday: Camp Gan Israel, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. for ages 3-10. wedneSday: Camp Gan Israel, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. for ages 3-10; New Tanya Series -- The Anatomy of Your Soul: Who Are You?, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Mendel Katzman; Annual Menorah Parade, 3 p.m. at Boystown.

ThurSday: Camp Gan Israel, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. for ages 310: Advanced Talmud Class, noon with Rabbi Mendel Katzman. friday, dec. 30: Camp Gan Israel, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. for ages 3-10.

All programs are open to the entire community.

congregaTion b’nai JeShurun

Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis. friday: Star City Kochavim on NET Radio (KUCV 91.1 FM), 9 a.m. hosted by Linda Glaser; Pre-neg, 6 p.m. hosted by Linda Glaser; Candlelighting, 4:45 p.m.; Shabbat Evening Service, 6:30 p.m.

SaTurday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Veyeshev; Public Community Menorah lighting on the front steps, 6 p.m.; Hanukkah: 1 candle, 6:16 p.m.

Sunday: No LJCS Classes; Hanukkah: 2 candles, 6:17 p.m. monday: Hanukkah: 3 candles, 6:17 p.m.

TueSday: Hanukkah: 4 candles, 6:18 p.m. wedneSday: No LJCS Classes; Hanukkah: 5 candles, 6:19 p.m.

ThurSday: Hanukkah: 6 candles, 6:20 p.m.; Temple Choir Rehearsal, 7 p.m.

The Annual South Street Temple Hanukkah dinner and service, friday, dec. 30. Dinner at 6:30 p.m. featuring salad, brisket, and latkes! Feel free to bring a dessert to share. Cost: adults (13 and up): $10, children (2-12): $5 and under 2: free.

RSVP to the Temple Office (office@southstreettemple.org; or 402.435.8004) by wednesday, dec. 28, or register online.

Erev Shabbat/Erev Hanukkah service to follow, with music by the Star City Kochavim and the Temple Choir.

It’s time for our annual holiday drive for Clinic With a Heart.

Please help by donating over-the-counter medications and personal care items. Donations can be brought to the Temple Office anytime the Temple is open.

South Street Temple is partnering with “We Can Do This” to provide weekend meals to the children of the F Street Community Center. Join us as we provide lunch on the third Sunday of every month. Food/monetary donations, meal preparation and assistance with setting up, serving, and clean-up are needed! We will serve our first meal on Jan. 15 at 2:30 p.m. For more information, email Sarah Beringer at sarah.m.beringer@gmail.com.

President’s Office Hours, Sunday mornings, 10 a.m.– noon at SST. If you have any Temple business you would like to bring before the Board of Trustees, potential programs, or new ideas, please let us know! Call for an appointment at the Temple at 402.513.7697. Or if you prefer, email David Weisser at president@southstreettemple.org.

offuTT air force baSe

friday: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

roSe blumkin JewiSh home

friday: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. with Beth El. SaTurday: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Renee Kazor and Zach Bram.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

TemPle iSrael

friday: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.

SaTurday: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Services, 10:30 a.m. Torah Reader: Kate Murphy and Haftarah Reader: Miles Remer.

Sunday: No Grades K-6; Chinese Food & A Movie, 6 p.m.

Join us at Temple Israel for a catered Chinese dinner and a family movie. Reservations Required. wedneSday: No Grades 3-6, Grades 7-12 or Family School.

ThurSday: No Adult Education Class.

Hanukkah Service & Dinner, friday, dec. 30. Candle lighting and Kiddush in the Simon Community Court, 5:30 p.m., Services, 6 p.m. Dinner immediately following. Join us for a special, family-friendly, interactive Hanukkah service, followed by dinner and games for all ages. Menu: Brisket, Vegetables, Latkes with Applesauce & Sour Cream, Dessert. Bring your dreidels! Bring your favorite family menorah to decorate your holiday table! The cost of the meal is $10 for adults; $5 for children in 2nd - 6th grade; and no charge for kids under 2nd grade.

Please RSVP, 402.556.6536 or rsvp@templeisraelomaha. com, by Tuesday, dec. 27.

TifereTh iSrael

Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: monday-friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. friday: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SaTurday: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. followed by a Kiddush Luncheon.

Sunday: No LJCS Classes; TI Has Talent 4 & Our Annual Hanukkah Latke Party, 4 p.m. The first night of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve both fall on Dec. 24 this year. We recognize we have many interfaith families in our congregation who will want to spend time on Christmas with their non-Jewish family members at family gatherings. With that in mind, our congregational Latke Party and TI Has Talent show will begin at 4 p.m. The talent show will precede the dinner which should begin at 5 p.m. It is our hope to make it feasible for all who can join us to be able to do so with greater ease by changing our event to a dinnertime gathering rather than one at lunchtime. wedneSday: No LJCS Classes; Our Ugly Sweater gathering has morphed. We will be gathering at the home of Lucy and Kirk Bowers to light Chanukah candles together and celebrate Hanukkah in a home setting at 7:15 p.m. Please bring your own menorah and we will provide the candles! This gathering is for congregants of all ages. Don't forget to wear an ugly sweater!

The unveiling of a monument for Sally Arenson will be held at Mt. Carmel Cemetery on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 at 10:30 a.m.

Please join the Arenson and Bowers families for this ceremony so there will be a minyan present and kaddish can be recited.

Join us for Shabbat Pasta Dinner and Birthday Celebration for all congregants born in the month of January, friday, Jan. 6, 6:15 p.m. There will be no Friday evening services following dinner. All ages are welcome to join together. Dress casually, be ready to enjoy the sweetness of Shabbat and the warmth of being together!

To SubmiT b’nai miTzvah announcemenTS

Announcements should be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewish omaha.org; or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 two weeks in advance of the B’nai Mitzvah. Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, by e-mailing the editor at: avande kamp@jewishomaha.org or online at: www.jewish omaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press.’

alleged Jewish gangster shot five times in Paris

JTA NEWS STAFF A Jewish man described by French police as a gangster was shot five times and severely wounded in Paris.

The incident occurred Sunday evening in Paris’ upscale 16th district, which features the Eiffel Tower. The victim, identified as Dominique Guez, sustained at least one shot to the head from a drive-by shooting as he was parking his scooter on Flandrin Boulevard near the Arc de Triomph in eastern Paris, according to the RTL radio and television broadcaster. Two unidentified men opened fire on Guez from a moving car.

The two shooters escaped with a third accomplice in a vehicle that had been torched not far from the scene of the crime. According to the Le Point weekly, Guez was shot outside his home.

Quoting police sources, Le Parisien reported

the victim is “a member of the Jewish crime scene” with multiple convictions for fraud.

According to Le Point, the victim is connected to Arnaud Mimran, a French Jew who in July was sentenced to eight years in prison for defrauding, with several partners, the European Union out of 282 million euros, about $315 million.

Mimran, who was convicted of tax offenses in France in the late 1990s, used front companies to collect VAT returns from France on carbon emissions permits that he bought from countries that did not collect VAT on them, like the Netherlands.

Known as the carbon emissions scam, it is believed to have caused billions in damages in 2009 by fraudulently exploiting the differences in how industrialized nations encouraged reducing emission of greenhouse gases.

The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016 | 11

Be a role model;

lifecycles

Happy Birthday, Joe Kirshenbaum

J

oe Kirshenbaum will celebrate his 97th birthday Tuesday, Dec. 27.

Joe was born in Kupel, Russia, in 1919 and came to the United States in 1921, accompanied by his parents and sister. e family settled in Omaha, where Joe graduated from Central High School as well as the University of Nebraska.

Joe served in World War II from January 1942 until his honorable discharge in December 1945. He served as Captain in the 82nd Ordinance Group, which supplied all ammunition for General Patton’s

ird Army from the Normandy Invasion through the end of the war. During that time, the Ordinance Group opened 62 ammunition Depots for the ird Army.

Joe was married to Audrey Wolf for 53 years, until her death in 2001. ey had four children together: Tom (Kate), Bill (Linda), Kim (Todd) and Dick. Joe has seven grandchildren: Matt (Jenn), Adam (Nikki), Morgan (Jimmy), Brad, Anna, Ivan and Kelby. He also has four great-grandchildren: Kathleen, Laura, Joey and Jordyn.

He has been with his companion, sweetheart and best friend Virginia for 13 years.

Joe is the President of Wolf Bros. Western Store, and when he is in Omaha during the summer months, you will find him at work in the store every day.

Happy Birthday Joe. We all love you!

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Charleston church shooter won’t call mental health experts, calling psychology a ‘Jewish invention’

JTA NEWS STAFF istered in his name, Roof said that the Jewish “problem” would be solved Dylann Roof, who considers psychology a “Jewish invention,” said he “if we could somehow destroy the Jewish identity.” The website was will not ask jurors to consider his mental health when they decide blocked shortly after the shootings. whether or not to sentence him to the death penalty for the murders of Roof devotes most of the manifesto to a discussion of blacks, who nine black worshipers at a Charleston, South Carolina church. he calls “the biggest problem for Americans,” and who he says are “stuRoof, 22, who is acting as his own atpid and violent.” He discusses segregatorney during the penalty phase of the tion -- Roof said it “was not a bad thing. trial, said in a handwritten note to the It was a defensive measure” -- as well as court that he “will not be calling mental slavery, the flight to the suburbs and health experts or presenting mental racial mixing. health evidence.”

Roof calls Jews an “enigma,” adding, While the note did not specify the rea“I don’t pretend to understand why jews son, his journal, filled with racist and [sic] do what they do.” He said he beanti-Semitic rants, which was introduced lieves that “the majority of American and as evidence during the trial, says he conEuropean jews are White.” siders psychology a “Jewish invention.”

“In my opinion the issues with jews is “It is a Jewish invention and does not their blood, but their identity. I think nothing but invent diseases and tell peo- Dylann roof, suspected of killing nine worshipers at a that if we could somehow destroy the ple they have problems when they charleston, south carolina, church, appearing at a bond jewish identity, then they wouldnt cause don’t,” Roof wrote, according to reports hearing via a video uplink, June 19, 2015. much of a problem. The problem is that Credit: Grace Beahm/Pool/Getty Images Jews look White, and in many cases are including from the Associated Press.

Roof, who is white, was convicted on Thursday of 33 charges of fed- White, yet they see themselves as minorities. Just like [the N word], eral hate crimes in the 2015 massacre of African-American worshipers most jews are always thinking about the fact that they are jewish,” Roof at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. A separate trial on wrote. state charges in the nine killings in the church shootings is scheduled He added: “The other issue is that they network. If we could somehow for next year. turn every jew blue for 24 hours, I think there would be a mass awakening, In a 2,500-word racial manifesto published on a website that was reg- because people would be able to see plainly what is going on.”

No Oscar for Israeli award-winning entry

LOS ANGELES | JTA Israel’s hopes for an Oscar as best foreign language film were dashed when Sand Storm failed to make the cut as the entries from 85 countries were narrowed to nine semifinalists. ree of the nine movies on the shortlist deal with the Nazi era, indicating again the hold that World War II and Holocaust themes have on the imagination of filmmakers. e elimination of Sand Storm spelled the end, for now, of a Cinderella story, in which Elite Zexer, in her first feature film, dominated the Israeli equivalent of the Academy Awards, winning six Ophir awards, including best picture and best director.

Centered on a clash between tradition and modernity in a Bedouin village, the film, set in the Negev and entirely in Arabic, has won top prizes at international film festivals in Taiwan, South Korea, Seattle and Jerusalem, and the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

Among the nine surviving entries are Russia’s Paradise, Norway’s e King’s Choice and Denmark’s Land of Mine.

Other movies making the shortlist are Australia’s Tanna, Canada’s It’s Only the End of the World, Germany’s Toni Erdmann, Iran’s e Salesman, Sweden’s A Man Called Ove and Switzerland’s My Life as a Zucchini.

Some early favorites, such as France’s Elle and Chile’s Neruda, also were eliminated. e shortlist will be narrowed to five on Jan. 24, when the nominees in all categories will be announced. e ultimate winners will be crowned Feb. 26 at the Oscars in Hollywood in a broadcast that will be seen in 225 countries and territories.

reminder: Partnership

Eastern Europe Trip

Time is running out to commit to the May 7-16, 2017 Partnership Eastern Europe visit!

If you are interested in this great opportunity, please contact JFO Direcor of Development Nate Shapiro by emailing nshapiro@jewishomaha.org, or call 402.334.6440 by Jan. 6, 2017!

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The Jewish Press will be closed on Monday, Dec. 26 and Monday, Jan. 2.There will be no Jewish Press on Jan. 6, 2017. Questions?

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12 | The Jewish Press | December 23, 2016

worldnews

A Syrian Jew’s message to Aleppo: Keep tradition and don’t lose hope Ben SAleS NEW YORK | JTA Although Poopa Dweck has never been to Aleppo, her New Jersey home evokes the smells of a kitchen in the nowravaged Syrian city.

Dweck was born aer her parents le the once-bustling metropolis in 1947, but she still calls it her “homeland.” She has dedicated herself to maintaining and teaching the recipes of the Syrian Jewish community, authoring the cookbook “Aromas of Aleppo.”

And she has straightforward advice for the tens of thousands of refugees who have fled the Aleppo as the Syrian government and its allies have bombed the city in recent weeks, creating horrific scenes of destruction: Keep your traditions and don’t give up hope. “e Jewish community that is dispersed throughout the world is a good example for these descendants right now … understanding their history and hanging on to their traditions and rituals and belief systems,” she said, referring to displaced Aleppines. “If they actually had to leave their homeland, it doesn’t mean their identity is compromised.”

For decades, the Syrian Jewish diaspora has steadfastly maintained its traditions. Spread among New York, Israel and a handful of other places, Syrian Jews have gained a reputation for holding fast to their foods, rituals and prayers, as well as living near one another and encouraging their children to marry within the community. e Jewish presence in Aleppo, according to tradition, dates back to the time of King David, who conquered the area. Syrian Jews began immigrating to America near the turn of the 20th century. In 1948, when Syria declared war on the nascent State of Israel, there were some 40,000 Jews in the country, most of whom le over the years.

Until the current civil war began in 2011, Syria had let small waves of Jews emigrate, while others le illegally. A

clandestine rescue operation brought a Jewish family to Israel from Aleppo last year, and only a few Jews remain in the country.

While much of the 75,000-member American Syrian Jewish community departed the country decades ago, Dweck said they still feel pain watching its destruction.

Syrians fleeing violence in Aleppo arriving in the city's Fardos neighborhood after government troops retook the area from rebel fighters, Dec. 13, 2016.

Credit: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images “It is heartbreaking to see what is happening to the men, women and children in that part of the world,” she said.

“I’m totally devastated by it, the destruction of a beautiful part of the world.”

Today, the core of the Syrian Jewish community is in Israel, Brooklyn and New Jersey. Dweck lives in Deal, a Shore hamlet with a large population of Syrian Jews.

In Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood, a Syrian megasynagogue called Shaare Zion hosts a dozen morning prayer services daily. e community has remained cohesive due, in part, to an 80-year-old edict from its rabbis forbidding Syrian Jews from marrying Jewish converts.

health+wellness

Dweck’s parents le Syria on their honeymoon in 1947, right before the United Nations approved the plan to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, sparking unrest and attacks on Jews across the Arab world. e couple never returned home, settling in Italy for three years before moving to the United States.

“We’re all dispersed, but we’re all from one family,” said Dweck of cousins in Latin America and Europe. “e children see our values and how we live, and what our priorities are, and how we continue our heritage.”

For Dweck, communal continuity expresses itself through cooking. On ursday, she rattled off a list of foods associated with the Jewish calendar, from atayef -- fried pancakes filled with ricotta served on Hanukkah -- to Passover’s helou hindi, or candied coconut. When a baby gets its first tooth, as Dweck’s grandchild did recently, Syrian Jews give the child sliha, a dessert with whole wheat grains and mixed nuts.

Dweck says that when her mother would reminisce about Aleppo, she would recall the city’s markets, stacked with rich produce, as well as healthy chickens and eggs.

“We really haven’t veered,” she said. “Any place in the world, whether it’s Geneva or Panama or Brazil or London, you’ll go to a descendant of the Syrian community and you’ll sit at their Shabbat table and the food will be exactly the same.”

Dweck hopes that the refugees streaming out of Aleppo now can also preserve their own recipes and folkways. Despite nearly 70 years of hostility between Syria and Israel, Dweck said her parents had only fond memories of their neighbors, who would bring sweets to Jewish families to celebrate the end of Passover.

Decades later, Dweck says she still feels a connection to Aleppo’s embattled residents.

“We lived in tolerance,” she said. “We’re devastated for the homeland itself because that’s where we came from. We don’t want to see it destroyed.”

coming in january

publishing date | 01.13.17

space reservation | 01.04.17

camera ready deadline | 01.06.17

Promote your business in this special issue with an ad and a short article. Contact our advertising executive to advertise in this very special edition.

Susan Bernard | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org