December 31, 2021

A N AG E N C Y O F T H E J E W I S H F E D E R AT I O N O F O M A H A

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Remembering Joe Kirshenbaum The Jewish Press is not publishing a paper on January 7. The next paper will publish on January 14.

Ruth Sokolof Xmas party for visually impared children Page 6

Joseph ‘Joe’ Kirshenbaum passed away Dec. 11, just shy of his 102nd birthday. Much has been written throughout the years about Joe, as he loved reminiscing about Jewish life in Omaha.

Below, we are reprinting Cantor Joanna Alexander’s eulogy.

Joe was all about family. Growing up in North Omaha he was surrounded by family, his parents Dora and Meyer lived on the same block as their siblings, so all the cousins played together, and each of the aunts was an extra set of eyes on all of the kids. If you didn’t like dinner at your mom’s, you could stop by and eat at your aunt’s just across the street. This sense of family and caring for each other is something Joe took forward throughout his life.

Joe started school at UNL, but his education was interrupted by WWII. He joined the U.S. Army as a private in 1942, but was soon selected to enroll in officer candidate school and served as a captain with the 82nd Ordnance Group under Lt. General George S. Patton’s Third Army. Upon returning from France, he finished his bachelor’s degree in business management. While working at Wolf Brothers Western Store, he met the owner’s daughter Audrey (who was dating a friend of Joe’s at the time) and stole her away. They were married in 1947. By

1949, he purchased Wolf Brothers from his father-in-law.

Family cares for family.

“Dad was our father and our boss,” Tom Kirshenbaum said.

“He was a tough boss, but he taught us a lot and we got to work for and with our Dad. Joe knew everyone, you couldn’t go to a restaurant without running into someone Joe would stop and talk to. If you traveled out of town, he would run into someone he knew. He was funny; some of his comments might be considered “off color” today, but people loved him, and he always left an impression. Joe knew everyone.

“Family was the most important,” Dick Kirshenbaum said. “If there was a need, Joe was there to listen and understand. If you were in trouble, he was there. He had our back.”

“He wanted us to get along,” Bill said. “He worked often and he worked hard, but he always had time for us.”

As Tom, Bill and Dick started to take more ownership of the store, Joe branched out to give them space, opening Wolf Brothers Ladies Fashion Bazaar, and Joey’s Girls and Boots for Less. However, he still wanted daily reports for the main stores. Even when he and Audrey See Joseph “Joe” Kirshenbaum page 19

Meet Angelina Muñiz Huberman Page 20

Thank you JENN TOMPKINS JFO Executive Director of Community Philanthropy & Engagement Dear Community, All of us at the Jewish Federation of Omaha are immensely grateful to those of you who have donated to the

2022 Annual Campaign. Especially in today’s world, we are fortunate to be part of such a caring and engaged community. As the end of 2021 approaches, there is still time to make a pledge to the campaign. You can pledge at www.jewishomaha.org or call me at 402.334.6435.

REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles

16 17 18 19

Campaign Chairs Jess and Shane Cohn & Iris and Marty Ricks

I also want to thank the 65 campaign ambassadors who have volunteered their time, to call anywhere from a few donors to 50 donors. You have allowed us to keep our annual campaign a grassroots operation!

Not every community manages its annual campaign this way, and we are fortunate to have such passionate volunteers and lay leaders.

See Thank you page 3

Charles Parsow is the perfect match

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT Jewish Press Editor Charles Parsow was born in Omaha and grew up at Temple Israel. He is the son of Margo and Jay Parsow (z”l) and attended Westside High School and BBYO. He has a brother, Aaron, and attended Tufts University. He lived in Boston until early 2021, when he relocated to Austin, TX where he runs his own business. He likes Austin, he said, because “you can’t beat the weather, food or activities. Also,

there are many Omahans in Austin and it has a Midwest friendliness and sensibility.”

So far, his story is not that unusual, with one major exception: Charles is what his mother Margo describes as a ‘super donor.’

“In 2019,” Charles said, “I went on a Birthright trip with a group of 26to 32-year-olds from Boston. They offered various breakout sessions, during which guests came and spoke about certain issues, like politics, religion, or economics, etc.

See A perfect match page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021

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DIANE WALKER JFO Foundation Fund and Scholarship Administrator Substantial scholarship grants (currently up to $15,000) are available to graduate students through the Benjamin and Elizabeth “Bess” Stern Scholarship Fund. The fund is administered by the Financial Aid Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. These scholarship grants are available to qualified Jewish students willing to pursue graduate studies at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska Omaha or the University of Nebraska Medical Center. All of these are located in the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

The fund will give first priority to graduate level students pursuing studies in the following fields at universities in the city of Omaha, Nebraska: • higher mathematics, physics (both classical and quantum), astronomy, meteorology, astrophysics, engineering or fields related to any of the foregoing which allow us to know more about the universe in which we live; • journalism, in its best sense of ethical, honest, and accurate reporting, and photo journalism; • finance and economics; • architecture and related fields, including city planning, which affect the quality of life in a community; • classical music (limited to piano, flute, cello and violin) to give young and old joy from the beauty of its sounds; and • scientific research in human diseases for which no known complete cure has been found.

If there are no qualified applicants under the first priority, the second priority shall be given to graduate students pursuing any other field of study at the above-mentioned universities.

Scholarships shall be made only to students with demonstrated financial need and who show character and contributions to the community. Preference will be given to students of the Jewish faith. Applicants may be from any locality, but graduate studies must be pursued at Creighton University, the

University of Nebraska Omaha, or the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The Benjamin and Elizabeth ‘Bess’ Stern Scholarship Fund was established at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation by sisters Louise H. Stern and Naomi Stern Jaffer in memory of their parents. Bess Stern was a descendant of Benjamin Stock, the brother of Devoshe (Mrs. Samuel) Riekes. Ben-

jamin’s granddaughter, Gertrude Brodkey, was married to Justice Donald Brodkey, the first Jew to serve on the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Colonel Benjamin Stern taught mathematics and physics at Omaha University after his retirement from the U.S. Army.

An Omaha native with military decorations including the Air Medal, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm Leaf, Col. Stern founded the Cadet Corps at Creighton University, the foundation for Creighton ROTC. Col. Stern was the first Jewish person from Omaha to receive an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from West Point in 1923, did graduate work at Rutgers University, and earned a master’s degree in science from the California Institute of Technology. Certainly, education was important to both Benjamin and Elizabeth Stern.

The application deadline for this fund is June 1, 2022. The application will be available on the Jewish Federation website at www.jewishomaha.org. Please contact Diane Walker at 402.334.6551 or dwalker@jewishomaha.org with any questions.

A perfect match Continued from page 1 One of those featured a representative from the Gift of Life organization. It was after that session we all had our cheeks swabbed to be entered into the Gift of Life Marrow registry. I am fairly sure Gift of Life visits each Birthright group.”

Gift of Life works for those battling blood cancer. Approximately every three minutes, a child or adult in the United States is diagnosed with a type of blood cancer. An estimated 186,400 people will be diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma in 2021.

There are three main types of blood cancers: Leukemia, cancer that is found in your blood and bone marrow; Lymphoma, blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system; and Myeloma, blood cancer that specifically targets your plasma cells.

For many, there is hope of a cure through a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant. Today, transplantation of healthy stem cells donated by related and unrelated volunteers offers hope to many patients suffering from these sometimes-deadly diseases. Advances in transplantation have made this procedure a reality for thousands who are alive today because a stranger decided to get their cheek swabbed ( for instance, during a Birthright break-out session) and found they were a match to someone in need.

“You swab your cheek with special Q-tips,” Charles said, “put those in a prepared envelope and send them in. From your cheek tissue, they can determine your Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) type, which is important because it helps the medical professionals understand how likely it is the recipient’s body will reject or accept the stem cell transplant. HLA type varies more among humans and is more specific than merely the blood type. It’s such a unique feature that even the odds of finding a sibling who is a match is only about 25%. The odds of finding a match in the current registry are roughly one in 1,300.”

Once Charles returned from his Birthright trip, life returned to normal.

“I continued to have great relationships with many of the people from the trip,” he said. “A number of us would see each other about every month afterwards. When the pandemic eased up, we even rented a house in Cape Cod. About 15 months after returning from Birthright, I received a call from Gift of Life. It’s unusual to receive a call that quickly; most people get a call years or even decades after swabbing and some never get called at all.”

“I ended up being a perfect match with my recipient,” Charles said, “based on HLA typing. Because of HIPAA, all they allow me to know is that I matched with an adult man battling acute myeloid leukemia. I don’t know his name or where he lives.

They give you the option to receive updates on his status and then, at a much later time, we can both mutually agree to re-

ceive each other’s contact information and potentially connect.”

The hospitality provided by Gift of Life during this entire process was unique, Charles said: “They flew me and my friend Zak Helm to Florida for the donation and put us in a nice hotel by the beach for several days prior to the donation. Zak has been my best friend since childhood (he is the son of Bob Helm and Kathy GoldsteinHelm). Once you are in that chair and begin the stem cell donation, it’s virtually the same as donating blood—there is no significant pain associated with the actual donation.

Donating blood stem cells is something ideally done by donors in the 18-35 age group. It involves receiving a drug called Neupogen, which stimulates blood stem cell growth.

The blood is then filtered through a special machine which separates the stem cells, after which the blood itself is returned to the donor. Gift of Life refers to some donors as "super donors" if they are a perfect match and if they respond very positively to Neupogen.

“Not everyone responds the same way to Neupogen. Taking Neupogen is what caused my body to produce more blood stem cells than normal,” Charles said, “so the donation took less time and the collection is potentially more concentrated.”

It’s important to remember the recipient and the long road he has ahead of him, he said. “As soon as I committed to going through with the donation, the recipient immediately underwent chemo therapy to kill any cancer cells and any stem cells in his bone marrow. He was given immunosuppressive drugs to prevent his body from attacking my stem cells. It usually takes three to 12 months for the immune system to recover from a transplant. His first year after the transplant will be like the first year of a newborn baby, as far as the immune system is concerned. While the doctors wait to see if the donation was successful, his life hangs in the balance.”

Gift of Life asks people to donate even if they aren't a perfect match. A decently close match is better than no match at all.You can find more information about Gift of Life, as well as other inspiring stories, at www.giftoflife.org.

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 Gary Javitch at breadbreakersomaha@ gmail.com or leave a message at the B’nai B’rith JCC office 402.334.6443.

The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021 | 3

News

Thank you Continued from page 1 We also want to take a moment to thank everyone who answered the phone and responded to the campaign volunteer e-mails. Reaching out can be hard, and it really helps that the community responds with warmth and enthusiasm.

The JFO consists of multiple organizations and hundreds of people. We are a social service organization driven by Jewish values, and generous donors like you help us continue doing what we do best: support the community and each other.

A portion of donations go to Jewish Senior Outreach and catering. Programs like Meals on Wheels and general support for senior adults are funded by Annual Campaign donations.

Your support goes to an incredible variety of different services, including Jewish Family Services’ aid and counseling, PJ Elementary programming, the Institute for Holocaust Education, and the CRC, just to name a few. The donations benefit everyone in our community.

We are so excited to bring you new programming in the coming year. IHE is building upon the new programs that have been introduced in the last year. For example, our 3rd Thursday IHE Lunch & Learn series, our new November program Portraits of Survival, or our work with Creighton Law School for the Nuremburg to the Hague summer program, to name but a few.

In 2022, JFO and the Jewish Press will facilitate a local author series, highlighting community members who have published a variety of books. In addition, the Jewish Press will continue to provide you with news and in-depth coverage about our community, in print as well as online.

JFS will continue doing Suicide Prevention programming.

In addition, Ezra’s Invisible Backpack program, in collaboration with Jennie Gates Beckman at the JFO, will take place Feb. 27. This is a program for Jewish Educators, but we will be taking the program to a larger audience in 2022.

The 2022 Annual Campaign donations help provide dynamic, creative and supportive services that improve thousands of lives in our community. We ask for your help, and thank you for your support.

See full digital issues https://issuu.com/jewishpress7

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Beth El offers Tai Chi ROBBY ERLICH Beth El Engagement Coordinator Beth El is excited to offer a series of three, virtual Tai Chi classes on Jan. 12, 19 and 26 at 3:15 p.m. led by Beth Staenberg. The cost is $18 for the series of classes. The $18 helps support the ongoing virtual and physically-distant programming that Beth El continues to put on. Beth Staenberg has been teaching and practicing this ancient tradition for eleven years. For Beth, Tai Chi is a part of her life and she hopes to bring this practice to participants’ forefront. Physical activity is well known to improve one’s physical and mental wellbeing and offers many other additional benefits.

Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that was originally developed for self-defense. Along the way, it transformed into a way to enhance ones health and wellbeing. Some people call it a moving meditation, as you concentrate on the moves, and then the moves become body memory to help you with flowing your internal energy. Energy is all around and inside of us and we are working with this life force energy. “Participants have noted more feelings of calm and relaxation and less anxiety which is important now with the COVID-19 pandemic. By doing a series of three classes, it will become more routine and regular. Like doing anything

Credit: Anila amataj; licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

consistently, you become more familiar with the routines and you are able to relax more and feel your flow of energy and feel the movements at a heighted awareness” explains Beth.

Beth is certified in an evidence-based Tai Chi program which promotes many aspects of health. Tai Chi has been shown to help with promoting good sleep, reduce stress, and help with general overall wellness. The movements are slow, focused exercises, which helps with increasing flexibility, balance, and

help with reducing falls. By working gently with the body and keeping the joints loose, ligaments and bones are nourished, which helps to prevent injury to these areas. Muscles are loosened and strength and power are increased. Beth explains further that “pairing movement with breath, Tai Chi increases our inhalation and exhalation so we keep our lung capacity at its best. It is low impact and a great amount of athletic ability is not needed.”

See Tai Chi page 5

Paid for by Friends of Brett Lindstrom Committee, 2435 South 130th Circle, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68144

4 | The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021

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2022 JCC Maccabi Games® recruitment underway

JACOB GELTZER Team Omaha JCC Maccabi Games® Delegation Head After a year off, the JCC Maccabi Games® are coming back in 2022! Team Omaha is looking to recruit some amazing athletes for this summer’s Games. The JCC Maccabi Games® are an Olympic-style sporting competition held each summer and is the second largest organized sports program for Jewish teenagers in the world. The JCC Maccabi Games® offers a wide variety of sports competitions, Judaic learning, and relationshipbuilding for boys and girls ages 13-16.

JCCs across the country send delegations of teens and coaches to this program every year, and Team Omaha has been thrilled to send athletes to the Games each year.

After a year away, we are excited to announce that the Omaha delegation will travel to and compete in the 2022 JCC Maccabi Games® in San Diego, CA July 31-Aug. 5.

This year’s sports include: Basketball, Baseball, Dance, Esports, Flag Football, Golf, Ice Hockey, Soccer, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, and Volleyball.

To compete in the 2022 JCC Maccabi Games®, participants must be Jewish and between ages 13-16 before July 31, 2022. No JCC

membership or synagogue affiliation required.

For more information about the JCC Maccabi Games®, please attend one of our information meetings held Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. or Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. Both sessions include the

same information, so choose whichever date is more convenient. The meetings are available to join virtually if needed. Meetings will be held in the Wiesman Reception Room at the JCC. You can RSVP for one of these meetings at www.tinyurl.com/maccabimeet ing2022. You can also find more information at www.jccomaha.org/maccabi.

For more information, contact Jacob Geltzer, Teen Program Director, at jgeltzer@ jccomaha.org or 402.334.6404.

Ruth Sokolof Xmas Party for Visually Impaired Children KAREN JAVITCH Over 90 students from Omaha and surrounding cities gathered together on December 12th for a fun shopping spree, held at Westroads mall. Sponsored by the Nebraska Foundation for the Visually Impaired, these students shopped with a high school volunteer, bringing their ‘lists’ along to buy presents for their family. “My Mom, Ruth Sokolof, and Bernice Wolfson started these parties 59 years ago, although at first they were bowling parties,” Karen Javitch comments. Ruth taught blind children for many years at J.P. Lord School. “After Mom died, my dad, Phil Sokolof continued to sponsor the program, giving money for each child to shop,” Karen adds. This experience provides visually impaired youngsters the opportunity to be more independent and give back to their families at the same time.

Other members of the board include Doug Wolfson and Howard Kutler.

Howard’s Dad, Ben Kutler was a long-time member of the NFVIC. Avi Wolfson, Doug’s son, also helps at the party and Gary Javitch is always there to take photographs!

The kids were so excited to shop this year, especially because the Party was canceled last year because of Covid. One mother said that her son told her this day is “the most fun day of the whole year!”

Just watching their faces, you know that that’s true!

Pictured from top: Nancy Flearl, president of NFVIC, Avi Wolfson, and Doug Wolfson; A high school volunteer and the student he’s shopping with; and Karen Sokolof Javitch

My family and I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy New Year

Happy New Year

Sen. Ben Hansen

Rick Holdcroft NE Legislative District 36

Nebraska State Legislature District #16

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The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021 | 5

What happened when Jewish students at Brown University stopped fighting about Israel and started listening to each other

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA How do you fight antisemitism if you can’t agree on how to define it? And how do you begin to debate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on campus if activists on both sides are convinced of the other’s animosity?

These are questions that have roiled colleges around the country, including Brown University, the Ivy League university in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2019, undergraduates there voted to boycott some firms dealing with Israel by a more than 2-to-1 margin, leaving pro-Israel students on campus feeling discouraged and alienated. Among Jewish students themselves there were disagreements about Israel and antisemitism, and when criticism of the former turns into the latter.

Seeing those tensions deepen, Rabbi Michelle Dardashti had launched a collaboration between Brown RISD Hillel and the Brown Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life. Funded by the Dorot Foundation, the Narrow Bridge Project brought students with a diverse set of ideological outlooks together to discuss Jewish peoplehood, Zionism and antisemitism.

This year, some of those students put what they learned into a 130-page guidebook called Love Thy Neighbor: A Guide for Tackling Antisemitism While Committing to Justice for All. It sets out to define antisemitism for the campus community and beyond, discussing both “classic” forms of antisemitism and the ways it can’t be separated from the “flammable subject of Israel/Palestine on campus.”

The five student authors come from diverse ideological and Jewish backgrounds — from a leader of a pro-Israel campus group to a self-described anti-Zionist. The result makes for uncomfortable reading on all sides, in that it acknowledges how one person’s national liberation movement is another’s “colonialist” project.

That’s the point, according to Dardashti, who mentored the students as rabbi at Brown RISD Hillel and associate chaplain at Brown University. The five principal authors, she said, represent a “diverse set of agendas, backgrounds and opinions with regard to Israel and Zionism, who came to the table to wrestle it out, so as to be able to more honestly and productively confront antisemitism together.”

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency spoke to the five authors in a Zoom conversation that reflected the undergraduates’ diverse Jewish biographies, the ways they grappled with ideas with which they disagreed, and how their process might be a model for other campuses and Jewish organizations in talking about antisemitism, Israel and the Palestinians.

The transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.

JTA: What was the scope of this project? What did you set out to solve that might not only be an issue on Brown’s campus, but probably on dozens of campuses around the country?

Isaac Goldman Sonnenfeldt ( junior from New York City studying environmental studies): Most of us came to this project through the Narrow Bridge Project. It is a close intimate learning group of politically diverse Jewish students who are coming together to engage with these issues on a pretty intellectual academic level.

From that experience in that class, a lot of us were hungry to continue that learning and find a way to dive deeper for ourselves and create meaning for other people as well. We Isaac Goldman Sonnenfeldt were engaging with issues and answering questions that we had felt discomfort with ourselves and saw amongst our peers.

How do you define that discomfort?

Sonnenfeldt: My discomfort definitely was in coming to

Brown from what had always been majority Jewish spaces growing up, like on the Upper West Side, going to a Jewish day school, switching to a secular school that was still majority Jewish. I had never really engaged with any of See Jewish students page 6

Left: The ‘20-21 Narrow Bridge Fellows at Brown University created Love Thy Neighbor: A Guide for Tackling Antisemitism While Committing to Justice for All. They are, clockwise from top left, Isaac Sonnenfeldt, Hannah Gelman, Andrew Steinberg, Maya Dayan and Elana Nussbaum Cohen. Credit: Collage by Grace Yagel

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Tai Chi Continued from page 3 Tai Chi is a system for a lifetime. The effects are powerful, but the routines themselves are typically gentle. Beth states that “we are not working on tensing muscles. We are working with Qi energy, and this energy is heightened by a smooth, calm, effort that is free of stress and does not pit one part of the body against another.” Many people tell Beth that being in class is like taking a mini vacation, in that people tune out everything else during the class.

Please visit the Beth El website at www.bethel-omaha. org to register for these virtual classes. Questions can be directed to Robby Erlich, Engagement Coordinator, at rerlich@bethel-omaha.org.

2933 S. 108th Street | Omaha, NE 68144 402-343-9406 | christiannobel.com

6 | The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021

Jewish students

Happy New Year All the best to you and yours in 2022

Re-elect Bob Evnen Secretary of State

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Continued from page 5 these issues as a Jew in the minority, if that makes sense. And especially coming to Brown and being more on the Zionist spectrum than not.

I didn’t necessarily feel that I was being attacked, but just being uncomfortable being in the minority for the first time and sort of coming into a new setting with new peers, a lot more ideas, people engaging on different levels than I had experienced before. There wasn’t just tacit agreement on Zionism everywhere. I was feeling discomfort over my own unpreparedness for those discussions and also feeling like I was in the minority.

What are some examples of some of the discomfort that the guidebook is trying to address?

Maya Dayan (a 2021 graduate from Boulder, Colorado, who studied applied math and public policy): I come from an Israeli family. I was born in Israel, but raised in Colorado. And then, through a few different life experiences, I found myself pretty firmly in the anti-Zionist camp.

I also have family by extension in Jewish Voice for Peace. So a lot of very left-wing sentiments, and I think the main part of what I tried to do is be in the room with Palestinians.

I made a very close Palestinian Maya Dayan friend when I was in an international boarding school in rural Maharashtra, India, called United World College.

Since then, one of my main priorities was engaging in places where Palestinians are and I think part of the discomfort obviously comes when we are talking in abstract terms about Israel, it can feel disconnected from the reality of my family. And then on the other side of the debate, when other Zionist people in the U.S. or my family talk about the conflict with abstract terms about Palestinians, it feels like they are ignoring the reality of my friends living there. And I think that’s where a lot of my discomfort stems from.

Anyone either want to respond, or maybe they find themselves in a different place than Maya.

See Jewish students at Brown University page 8

The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021 | 7

News

Legal watchdog demands action

RON KAMPEAS JTA A prominent Jewish civil rights group is demanding that the administration of Duke University override the student government after its president denied recognition to a campus pro-Israel group.

In November, the student government president, Christina Wang, decided to veto a student Senate vote to charter Duke SSI, the campus chapter of the international campus Zionist group Students Supporting Israel.

Wang cited an Instagram post from SSI that she termed “potentially hostile or harmful.”

The Louis D. Brandeis Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocating for Jewish students, told Duke’s administration in a letter that it was “legally obligated to take corrective action” in the case, saying the pro-Israel group was “subjected to special scrutiny that other groups did not have to endure.”

The Zionist Organization of America wrote a similar letter on the same day, Dec. 14.

In a reply to the Brandeis Center letter, a university official said the university is continuing to investigate whether the veto constitutes discrimination.

The Brandeis Center letter also noted that Wang’s stated rationale for vetoing recognition of Duke SSI was a “rather anodyne” post on social media. The Instagram post in question was in response to a student who charged that the pro-Israel group “promotes settler colonialism.” SSI responded in its own Instagram post, saying “please allow us to educate you” and inviting the critic to attend one of the group’s events. Wang did not say why that response was “potentially hostile or harmful.”

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Heppy New Year (no, that’s not a typo) Like in America, holidays in Israel are seized upon by businesses as opportunities to increase sales.

More and more, especially in the greater Tel Aviv area, these holidays include foreign imports. Valentine’s TEDDY Day, Halloween, and WEINBERGER Bleck Friday have become additional times for Israelis to make purchases and to go out and enjoy themselves (“bleck” because for many Israelis, the soft “e” often replaces the “a”). A worrisome phenomenon? A loss of cultural integrity? I don’t think so. These imports (and Israel’s businesses would wholeheartedly agree) come not to replace their Jewish cousins; each one represents a “seeba la’meseeba”--“reason to party.”

Celebrating a “Heppy New Year” on Jan. 1 is just another case in point Since it is obvious to every Israeli that January 1 is in fact not the New Year here (it's a completely regular day if it falls out during the week—government offices, schools, banks, the stock market, etc. are all open), a “Heppy New Year” just seems like a tongue-in-cheek friendly greeting. Despite my Orthodox schooling and my religious way of life, I will return a “Heppy New Year” greeting if one is extended to me (though I am not passionate enough about the practice to take the initia-

HAPPY NEW YEAR

tive). Because there is no danger in a person thinking that I am lobbying for Jan. 1 over Rosh Hashanah, theological reservations upon which I was raised concerning the “Christian” New Year have greatly eased.

The issue at hand relates to one's own personal New Year. Jews may celebrate their birthday according to the lunar calendar (Hebrew date) or the solar calendar (“foreign” or “lo'azi” date as they say in Israel). Aside from the day you were born, the two calendars coincide only about once every 19 years. While many Jews in America don't even know their Hebrew birth date (it wasn't until I was in my twenties that I memorized mine), Israeli society makes a place for the Hebrew calendar: on morning radio, in daily newspapers, on one's ID card, etc.

Some parents in Israel find the two birth dates very convenient, as one of the dates in a particular year may work out better for a party or family gathering (although the very Orthodox tend to only celebrate their lunar dates, while the secular tend to only celebrate their solar dates). In my family, Ezra and Elie are the ones who are partial to their lunar birth dates.

In Elie's case this feels especially right, since he was born on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (after all the fall holidays)-whereas his English birthday is October 4th, which sometimes means—as it will this coming year-- celebrating on the eve of Yom Kippur. Both Rebecca and Ruthie have significant Hebrew birthdays, though they are not enthu-

siastic about celebrating them. Rebecca was born on April 6, 1989, the first and festive day (Rosh Hodesh) of Nisan, Judaism’s most important month (as it says: “in Nisan we were redeemed, and in Nisan we will ultimately be redeemed”). Ruthie was born on Sept. 24, 1990, the fifth day of Tishrei, right in the middle of the Ten Days of Repentance. But when I call my girls to wish them well on their lunar birthdays, their attitude is: “yeah, whatever.”

Like many Jewish people, my family and I live in two worlds: the larger world that runs according to the solar calendar, and the Jewish world with a lunar calendar. In Israel, where state holidays are geared toward the Jewish calendar, there is less reason to be worried about the larger culture overpowering Jewish culture. And so, please let me wish you all a very Heppy New Year.

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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Jewish students at Brown University Continued from page 6 Andrew Steinberg (senior from Newton, Massachusetts, studying international and public affairs): The lightning that catalyzed this, for me, p e r s o n a l l y, was the Brown Divest campaign in 2019, which put all of these issues and isms at the Andrew Steinberg forefront of Courtesy Brown discourse, and certainly made us see a need for better dialogue from both sides. There’s a lot of bad-faith arguments on both sides. Like the allegation that Judaism is just a religion, or even on the Zionist side, when they say, like, “Palestinians, you rejected the state in 1948, therefore you kind of get what you get.” This is awful to people who are suffering through very real oppression. A lot of people are removed from each other. I’m not just talking about outside the Jewish community, but even inside the Jewish community.

Our group is a microcosm for conversations we hope other Jewish communities are having. Because it’s so easy when you’re attached to an organization or a movement to feel like you have to represent that movement

and you’re not an individual, and you’re always a warrior. You’re always an ambassador, and you’re not like a thinker or a healer. And I think that this process has really allowed us to humanize each other in a way where the merits of our arguments are actually tested.

And we have to confront hard truths.

I haven’t been on a college campus in a long time. Help me understand among Jewish students what some of the points of tension or disagreements are in talking about antisemitism.

Hannah Gelman (senior from New Orleans studying religious and Judaic studies): It comes up everywhere is really the short answer. But it doesn’t always read the same way. This 130page book is the tip of the iceberg on antisemitism on college camHannah Gelman puses.

BeCourtesy cause it doesn’t always look the same way.

At Brown, students are very politically minded and very passionate but also sometimes harsh in their political fervor. So in leftwing activist spaces, for example, there might be ostracism of Jews who identify as Zionist,

Happy New Year

or just assumptions that Jews identify as Zionist and then ostracism follows.

You felt that at Brown?

Gelman: I have felt that, and in right-wing spaces too, an ostracism where, for example, a non-Zionist Jew might be considered a “worse” of a Jew. I’m a Judaic studies major and a religious studies major, and in a lot of my classes, I feel there is a delegitimization of Jews as an actually oppressed group. People don’t know how to talk about that with the right sort of attention.

I mostly come to Judaism from a religious place, and less through political activism. My way in is religious participation. Nevertheless, there are sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit, lines being drawn by people not knowing how to talk about Jews and not understanding the nuance of Jewish peoplehood and Jewish experience in history, and how that fits into everything else we tend to talk about in a liberal university like Brown.

What are some of the tensions you see among Jews themselves, in not understanding how to define antisemitism?

Dayan: I think the biggest thing that we realized as a group is that the way that Zionists define Zionism is not perfectly opposite to the way anti-Zionists define anti-Zionism!

Very liberal Jews define their Zionism as really rooted in Jewish safety, whereas anti-Zionists define [their movement] as Palestinian liberation. They look at the way that the Jewish state itself has impacted the lives of Palestini-

ans, while not being actively against Jewish safety. But if you identify with the word “Zionist” as being about Jewish safety, and you hear someone come out as anti-Zionist, that sounds antisemitic to you, that’s a threat to your safety.

That, I think, is the fundamental disconnect that comes across: a lack of nuance around talking about Israel, and what that means to Jewish people. It’s not the same as just another nation state. And yet also when you talk about Palestinians I think we all got very comfortable with using terms like ethnic cleansing and settler colonialism when it comes to the manifestation of the Zionist state, and the way you cannot separate Zionism from the pain inflicted on Palestinians.

I think I have the unique experience in the room. I was part of Brown Divest and a supporter of it. I also was a member of Students for Justice in Palestine. Again, I want to be in the room with Palestinians. So I chose to sit in on all those meetings and be a part of the cultural events that they created. And one of the parts that was really hard about Jewish identity at Brown and where it gets super messy again is that Hillel, after the passing of Brown Divest, spoke out against it. There was an email that was sent out basically saying that this was like something against the Jewish community and that we had to stick together in this time of solidarity. It was very alienating.

But that was also how Rabbi Dardashti See Jewish students page 9

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Jewish students Continued from page 8 and I ended up connecting, which led to my involvement in this project.

Would anyone comment on something in the document that represented a compromise for you personally, in the sense that it was a really hard place for you to get to?

Steinberg: When Maya says like we’re all quote, “comfortable” with terms like ethnic cleansing and colonialism, I don’t think she speaks for everybody. I think those terms are uncomfortable to me. That doesn’t mean that they’re inherently untruthful. It just means they have to be litigated and put in position of other terms like “self-determination” and “Jewish liberation.” I mean, the side of things that she presents, I had to investigate from a historical and sociological perspective. And sometimes I had to be like, “This is true, and this as a narrative is legitimate, but it’s not the only legitimate narrative.” But given how polarized this discourse is, even acknowledging that the other -isms exist or can be valid is seen as an attack on your isms.

We had a meeting at Hillel with Roots, an organization promoting dialogue between Israeli settlers and Palestinian activists, and I want to give them credit for this term: the “hubris of exclusivity,” meaning that your narrative is the only narrative that is true. Yes, there also can be another truth that you have to grapple with. That’s uncomfortable.

Danan: The social media section was difficult for me, as sometimes I knew who had made the posts we labelled as antisemitic. I was much more comfortable in the presentation format we had in April, where we presented these quotes and opened a discussion on why certain rhetoric is offensive and how we’d encourage people to rephrase it. It was difficult for me having to put our assessments into black and white in that section. Regardless, when seen in the broader context of the resource, I think it’s clear our intent is to educate people, not call them out.

Sonnenfeldt: I don’t think that any of us came into this because we’re like, wow, this is going to be such a comforting experience. I think we want to push people and we pushed ourselves. Being in that space of discomfort is when we can actually start challenging our own assumptions and getting work done. It was a process, for me personally, of working through my own biases, and each of us coming to the table with our own blind spots and educating ourselves and in turn being able to educate other students on other college campuses and the broader community around these topics.

Elana, if you will: Give an example of one of your own personal blind spots.

Elana Nussbaum Cohen (sophomore from Brooklyn studying sociology): I attended Jewish day school for 13 years and had so much Israel education, and I knew the words to Israel’s national anthem by heart before I even knew the words to the Elana Nussbaum Cohen American naCourtesy tional anthem.

And it wasn’t until really the end of high school and college that I started to realize that there was a whole narrative being excluded from my education. And it wasn’t my fault, either. It wasn’t like I was doing something wrong. I was just a Jewish kid going to Jewish day school. These were values that my family wanted to instill in me and I was kind of shocked and upset about the lack of perspective I had gotten in my 13 years of Jewish education — truths about the occupation and about the present state of Israel.

So when I came to college, and these issues

were at the forefront of campus activism, and the global solidarity for Palestine was being connected to other global movements for justice, I was totally confused and felt like I didn’t even have the resources to be able to justify my own opinion, because I felt like all of my education was completely one-sided. And so it was a real project for me, and a personal challenge to enter into spaces that were uncomfortable and educate myself in order to be a better activist, in order to be a better Jew and Zionist.

Who do you want to see this guide and how would you like it being used?

Sonnenfeldt: We want this to be available to people like us who come to a college campus and are engaging with these issues for the first time. And they’re like, “I don’t know the history of this,” or “What is antisemitism?”

“Why is everyone yelling about it?” One of the greatest value-adds of this is that it’s from a student perspective. Maybe there’s a divestment referendum, maybe there are warring factions within the Jewish community on campus, and this is a great place to start and you can exit feeling like you actually understand a little bit and you know what to look for next, as opposed to just like diving headfirst into something that seems like it’s impossible to navigate.

Gelman: I think internal geography in the U.S. is really relevant to Jewish experience. I lived in New Orleans my whole life, and then I moved to Providence for school. And that was an eye-opening thing. My Jewish experience is vastly different just because of where I’m from. The antisemitism in the south is more like the antisemitism described in the first half of the book — you know, more directed towards schools that need more education about issues like religious antisemitism and economic antisemitism. The second half of the book is more for college campuses where there’s a lot of Israel activism and people are confused about when it’s okay to say you’re a Zionist and when it’s not.

Jewish organizations make that distinction, between the “new” antisemitism related to Israel and the old antisemitism of conspiracy theories and killing Jesus.

How useful is that?

Steinberg: Going off of what Hannah said, this resource is for people who, especially young people, who are or should be invested in having better conversations about antisemitism and Israel/Palestine. Anti-Zionist slash pro-Palestinian activists are very tired of just being labeled as antisemites or as irreconcilable, prejudiced people. And many of them, if you speak to them, they’re mostly concerned about, “How do I stop a soldier barging down my friend’s door in the middle of the night and traumatizing his kids, or how do I not go through a checkpoint,” which is dehumanizing. They’re very concerned with on-the-ground stuff. There might be some prejudiced people, don’t get me wrong, and people have blind spots. But I think to dismiss every pro-Palestinian advocate as antisemitic is lazy, and it doesn’t address the key concerns that those people have and I just think creates a cycle of emotional violence.

On the other side, when I see in my classes that Zionism is used in the same sentence as apartheid South Africa — that makes me feel awful, because my definitions are different.

My version of Zionism is self-determination for people who are from a land. It’s very uncomfortable hearing very un-nuanced and invalidating things about what I see as a positive movement. It’s like an education group on Brown’s campus posting BDS stuff when it was popular back in May. How do I then be part of this movement for, like, better public school education? If it’s vehemently anti-Zionist, how do I even bring this up to leadership without sounding whiny or not an ally? That’s what you’re trying to avoid. You actually want to have substance behind why you think the way you do without just saying See Brown University page 11

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Civil rights group leader Zahra Billoo continues attacks

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RON KAMPEAS JTA A Muslim civil rights leader who stirred outrage when she said “polite Zionists” like Jewish Federations “are not your friends” continued her critique of “Zionists” as she announced that she is going on a sabbatical.

“I am still in the middle of a prolonged Zionist onslaught,” wrote Zahra Billoo, director of the San Francisco office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a Facebook post on Sunday.

She added that she believes there is an “Islamophobic, pro-Israel campaign” to “place moles in our organization and others.”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticized the post on Twitter on Monday, saying Billoo’s words “link Zionism with Islamophobia.”

In a Nov. 27 speech to a pro-Palestinian group, Billoo named the ADL, Jewish Federations, “Zionist synagogues” and Hillel as organizations that practice this insidious form of “polite” Zionism. “They will take your friendship and throw your Palestinian brothers and sisters under the bus,” she said. While noting that the named groups have stood with the Muslim community over issues including former President Donald Trump’s proposed ban on immigration from Muslim-majority countries, she nevertheless concluded, “They are not your friends.”

Greenblatt called those remarks “textbook antisemitic conspiracy-laden garbage... it sounds like something you would expect from white supremacists.” The San Francisco-based office of the Jewish Community Relations Council and other Jewish groups also condemned Billoo’s comments.

In response, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, defended Billoo, saying Greenblatt was using “false claims of antisemitism to smear Muslims-especially Muslim women, for some reason-who challenge support for Israeli apartheid. And your dishonesty undermines the fight against real antisemitism.”

In 2019, Billoo was removed from the board of the Women’s March after just two days. She had in past statements likened the Israeli army to the ISIS terrorist group.

The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021 | 11

Third-graders told to reenact scenes from the Brown University Holocaust

SHIRA HANAU JTA Students at a Washington, D.C. elementary school were instructed by a staff member to reenact scenes from the Holocaust, according to The Washington Post.

When the third-grade students asked why the Germans killed Jews, the staff member said it was “because the Jews ruined Christmas.”

The students were supposed to be working on projects in the library when the staff member told the students to reenact scenes from the Holocaust. The woman reportedly told one student, who is Jewish, to play the role of Adolf Hitler and to pretend to commit suicide. Another student was told to pretend that he was on a train to a concentration camp and then to act as if he were dying in a gas chamber.

Classroom simulations in which students act out the roles of oppressed people have fallen out of favor in recent years. Teachers across the country have faced criticism for asking children to pretend to be African American slaves, Jim Crow-era Black and white Americans and, in at least one case, George Floyd and the police officer who killed him.

At the D.C. school, the staff member told students not to tell anyone about the reenactment, but the students told their homeroom teacher. She was placed on leave that same day.

The school’s principal condemned the incident in an email to parents and said all students in the class met with the school’s mental health team.

Continued from page 9 “that’s an -ism, you’re prejudiced.” You want the ability and courage to speak up constructively.

Outside Jewish organizations like to paint college campuses, especially the elite liberal arts colleges, as kind of hotbeds of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Is this an exaggeration, and can they do more harm than good by taking away your agency?

Sonnenfeldt: I think definitely Israel, Palestine and antisemitism are important topics of discussion on college campuses. Do I think that college campuses writ large are hotbeds of antisemitism? Absolutely not.

This resource is not meant to say, “Look at all these antisemitic college students and faculty and organizations.” A lot of people are confused. They don’t understand, necessarily, the impact of their words, and people are yelling past each other, which is when antisemitism can be both unintentionally fostered and perpetuated and also perceived when it’s not there.

In general, how do you feel about outside groups when they come in, whether it’s to file a Title VI lawsuit or telling you what you’re doing right and wrong?

Gelman: I certainly feel like I have agency on a practical level. I don’t feel silenced, but when broader organizations dub schools as “evil,” etc., that does feel like it takes a little bit of my own agency away. On a student-to-stu-

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dent level, I don’t feel like those sort of institutional proclamations limit my ability to be heard. But on a more global scope, sweeping characterizations or unproductive polarization erase a lot of the experiences and a lot of the work that students are doing in our generation to try to make this much less of a black and white conversation. That’s really frustrating and stomps on the work that I and a lot of my peers are trying to do when we try to be more caring and justice-oriented Jews, but also just people.

Steinberg: If I could just add on to that as someone who was in Brown Students for Israel and worked with these types of groups: There’s a time and place for everything. I think a lot of times these organizations view students as frontline soldiers, and not necessarily as partners. Ultimately, the lesson for outside organizations is to treat students as adults and as partners and consult with them before you go in. If you’re there to support Jewish students, ask Jewish students how you can support them. I think that’s the biggest thing.

Sonnenfeldt: When it comes to outside organizations coming in, I just want to acknowledge our relative privilege of having a mentor like Rabbi Dardashti and infrastructure like the Narrow Bridge Project and Dorot Foundation funding, and such a robust Jewish student organization at Brown that has allowed all of us to engage in this way. We are

operating from a very privileged position where we actually have the resources and mentors and spaces to engage in this type of activism. I have a twin sister who goes to Williams College; there’s not nearly as much Jewish infrastructure there. And two years ago when they were denied the right to start a Jewish club, there was no infrastructure to help them. In those sorts of scenarios, outside organizations can be really helpful.

Steinberg: I just want to say one more thing because I’ve been thinking about this.

It’s been a little bit like free love throughout this conversation. I do really love everybody here, but I want to recognize my main point, which is to acknowledge that before coming into this conversation, I was a very hardline, black-and-white [person who] could not conceive of how an anti-Zionist could not be an overtly antisemitic person. I just could not entertain that as a concept. And so, I have grown in my ability to just entertain other people’s opinions, even if I still disagree with them. That is the value of this project.

Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor in chief of The New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (@SilowCarroll).

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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Is her story true?

valho at the consulate and later married her.

CNAAN LIPSHIZ All visas were issued in compliance with the restrictive visa JTA policy of the Brazilian government, the historians wrote.

A historical drama series that premiered Sunday in Brazil was Like many other countries, Brazil introduced restrictions to supposed to give belated recognition to a woman nicknamed immigration that seemed designed to block the heavily Jewish “the angel of Hamburg” for her actions during the Holocaust. flood of refugees from Europe. According to some historians, Titled Passports to Freedom, the show produced by the South authorities in Brazil were especially discriminatory toward American media giant Globo and Sony Pictures has signifiJewish prospective immigrants. cantly amplified the little-known In the 1930s, the Brazilian govstory of Aracy de Carvalho, who ernment required applicants to is credited with saving several deposit a sizable sum of money Jews while working at Brazil’s into its national bank to be let in. consulate in Hamburg until 1942.

This excluded many Eastern EuBut two respected Brazilian ropean Jews living in poverty, and historians are calling the story an also many German Jews whose exaggeration, arguing that de possessions had already been Carvalho followed orders during stolen by the Nazis. her time at the consulate, incurDe Carvalho was involved in obring little to no personal risk in taining several tourist visas for issuing standard visas to GerActors Sophie Charlotte and Rodrigo Lombardi portray Jews who fled Germany. The visas man Jews who escaped.

Aracy de Carvalho and the Brazilian writer and diplomat were instrumental to their escape As a consulate worker, de CarJoão Guimarães Rosa during the filming of Passports to flights, but the historians argue valho helped at least five Jewish Freedom in Germany in 2020. Credit: Globo that de Carvalho acted as exfamilies flee in 1938-1939, facilipected of her by her government, incurring little personal risk. tating their departure to Brazil, according to her file at Israel’s “You could say there was goodwill, or another motive beYad Vashem Holocaust museum. In 1982, the museum recoghind the issuing of those visas but there’ s no proof of this being nized her as a Righteous Among the Nations – a title for nonthe case, ” Koifman and Afonso wrote in their book.

Jews who risked their lives to save Jews. She died in 2011.

Rumors that de Carvalho removed the letter J from the GerHistorians Fábio Koifman and Rui Afonso questioned her man passports of the applicants were only that, the historians claim to the title in a book published this year titled “Jews in wrote.

“All the passports had J in them, ” Koifman told the BBC. Brazil: History and Historiography.”

Several people whom de Carvalho assisted testified about In interviews in the days leading up to the TV series’ release, her actions to Yad Vashem, which relied on those testimonies the pair triggered a debate in Brazilian media about her legacy.

De Carvalho had not spoken much about the actions attrib- in recognizing her as a Righteous Among the Nations. But the uted to her during her lifetime, but has received growing visas issued to those people, including one woman named Margarethe Levy mentioned in the Yad Vashem file about de recognition in recent years.

“The evidence shows there was no heroine in this story,” Carvalho, show no irregular action on the part of the conKoifman told the Portuguese-language edition of the BBC’s sulate, the historians wrote. They call Yad Vashem’s recogniwebsite this week. The fanfare around de Carvalho’s actions tion of de Carvalho as a Righteous Among the Nation “an error.”

“These situations, where myths are created, occur when is part of a “creation of a myth,” the OUL news site quoted Koifmemory does not correlate with history,” they wrote in their man as saying. book.

The creators of the show defended its narrative.

Koifman told the BBC that de Carvalho did not have the au“We have access to countless testimonies of descendants of thority to hand out visas, none of which bore her name or sigsurvivors who spoke with great emotion about what they had nature. The ones issued show no signs of falsification and were heard from their parents, grandparents and great-grandparhanded out in compliance with official Brazilian policy. All ents, ” Mario Teixeira told OUL. He also cited the “very provisas were signed by the consul, Joaquim Antônio de Souza found research done”

by Yad Vashem.

Ribeiro, or his deputy, João Guimarães Rosa, who met de Car-

Fox News removes cartoon depicting George Soros as a puppet master

RON KAMPEAS JTA Fox News removed a cartoon depicting George Soros as a puppet master from social media after the Anti-Defamation League called out the conservative news giant for peddling antisemitic tropes.

“As we have told @FoxNews numerous times, casting a Jewish individual as a puppet master who manipulates national events for malign purposes conjures up longstanding antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and George Soros pictured giving an intercontributes to the view in a trailer for a 2020 documennormalization of tary about him. Credit: Screenshot antisemitism,” the ADL wrote Wednesday in a tweet. “This needs to be removed.”

The cartoon, by A.F. Branco, depicts Soros, a Holocaust survivor and a billionaire philanthropist who gives mainly to liberal causes, as manipulating a Democratic district attorney holding up a sign saying “defund the police” and a Democratic attorney general holding up a sign saying “no bail.”

Fox removed the Facebook and Instagram posts that included the cartoon later in the day. An ADL spokesman said the organization was glad to see it gone, but did not know if it happened at their behest. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency did not receive an immediate response to a query to Fox News.

Soros has been the target of antisemitic conspiracy-mongering in recent years.

Frequently a target of right-wing anger, Soros has funded electoral races for progressive prosecutors. A number of these have favored measures including ending cash bail, which progressives argue discriminates against the poor who remain incarcerated because they cannot afford bail money. Conservatives say the practice increases crime.

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Israel will likely administer a fourth dose of vaccine SHIRA HANAU JTA Israel will likely begin administering a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine to seniors, immunocompromised people, and healthcare workers in an effort to stem the spread of the An Israeli student receives a COVID19 vaccine injection at a vaccination Omicron variant.

The move was rec- center in Tel Aviv, Jan. 23, 2021. ommended Dec. 21 by Credit: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90 the panel of experts advising Israel’s government on the coronavirus pandemic. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had been hinting at the possibility of a fourth shot and embraced the recommendation in a statement Dec. 21.

“This is wonderful news that will assist us in getting through the Omicron wave that is engulfing the world,” Bennett said, according to The Times of Israel. Nachman Ash, the directorgeneral of Israel’s Health Ministry, still has to approve the decision before the shots can be administered.

The step towards administering another booster shot came as the number of cases of the Omicron variant in Israel continues to increase despite travel bans meant to keep out travelers from countries where Omicron is spreading wildly.

Bennett acknowledged that a fifth wave of the coronavirus within Israel was inevitable.

“We cannot prevent the [next] wave. It’s just not a possibility,” Bennett said in a meeting with members of the government’s coronavirus task force. “But we can certainly give the citizens of Israel the tools to protect themselves, mainly from serious illness, if some of them become infected.”

Israel was the first country in the world to administer a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine as a booster dose, which it began rolling out to those at highest risk from the coronavirus in July.

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Israel’s health minister wants to make it easier for women to get abortions

SHIRA HANAU JTA As the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Washington on the most significant abortion case to reach the court in decades, Israel’s health minister laid out his plans to simplify what he called Israel’s “chauvinistic” abortion process on Wednesday.

“It should be a given — the rights to a woman’s body are the woman’s alone,” Nitzan Horowitz told the Israeli news site Ynet.

“Any decision or medical procedure such as the choice of whether to perform an abortion must be in the hands of the woman. We have no moral right to decide for her how to deal with an unwanted pregnancy.”

Horowitz, head of the left-wing Meretz Party, wants to allow women to terminate a pregnancy within its first 12 weeks without approval by a committee, which is currently a requirement for all abortions in Israel. While abortions are legal in a number of cases in Israel, women seeking an abortion have to present their reasons for ending the pregnancy before a committee of three people. Committees approve abortions for women under the age of 18 or over the age of 40, in cases where birth defects are expected; when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest; when the woman is unmarried; or when the pregnancy may endanger the woman’s life or mental or physical health.

The Health Ministry plans to update the application form for abortions, which has not been changed since 1977, and study which hospitals receive the most applications in order to address the problem of lengthy wait times that women face at some hospitals.

It also plans to transfer responsibility for some abortions, particularly drug-induced procedures performed in the first term, to health clinics rather than hospitals.

Changes to the committee requirements, which are subject to Knesset approval, will likely take longer and face opposition from conservative parties in the governing coalition.

W I S H I N G T H E E N T I R E J E W I S H C O M M U N I T Y A

WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY Happy Hanukkah A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR

RUNNING FOR DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER – DISTRICT #6 Paid for by Mary Ann Borgeson for County Board

The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021 | 15

‘Is this really Y.U.?’

BEN SALES New York Jewish Week via JTA In early 2019, before his college’s men’s basketball team began a historic and unlikely winning streak, Jonathan Malek and three friends decided to catch a game.

Back then, it was easy to get a seat at a Yeshiva University basketball game. Their team, the Maccabees, which plays in Division III of the NCAA, wasn’t known as a powerhouse. But Malek and his friends were taken by the idea of a Jewish team giving it their all on the court while wearing kippahs.

They began a group text where they would chat about the Macs.

Two seasons and 50 wins in a row later, all that has changed. Yeshiva University’s team is 14-0 this season. They’re ranked number one in Division III, and getting attention not just from campus but from the likes of ESPN. The school’s athletic center is at capacity, at least in COVID terms, for every home game.

The names of the stars — Ryan Turell, Gabe Liefer, Ofek Reef — have become known across New York Orthodox Jewish households and beyond.

Malek and his friends still faithfully attend the games. “I remember before the win streak, and honestly they didn’t get a crowd until the playoffs started,” he told the New York Jewish Week. “Games were pretty much empty. Now, with the win streak, if you’re not there a half hour before game time, you’re not getting a seat.”

Like Malek’s quartet of superfans, Jews in New York and beyond are paying increasing attention to the Orthodox college in upper Manhattan that hasn’t lost a game since 2019 and just might win a national championship.

It’s a surprising turn for Y.U., which has historically been famous for rabbinics, not athletics. The flagship institution of Modern

Orthodox Judaism, Y.U. has roughly 2,000 undergraduates, split between a men’s-only college in Washington Heights and a women’s-only college in midtown. At the men’s campus, where the team plays, students study Talmud in the morning and their secular curriculum in the afternoon, with classes often stretching into the night.

It’s a demanding schedule that doesn’t leave lots of time for pep rallies and the like, but students are nonetheless finding energy to follow the team. Professors are letting students out of class early to head to the athletic center. Thousands more viewers are tuning in online to games broadcast by students.

“People can’t really imagine Jews dunking that much on an NCAA level,” said Charles Schaechter, another member of Malek’s group. “Seeing that happen on a regular basis and being able to blow out other teams is incredible. People are still shocked: Is this really Y.U.? Are we really watching our team play?”

The school’s small size contributes to the Macs’ appeal, students say, because in many cases they’re rooting for their friends and classmates. Malek has two classes with the team’s star, Ryan Turell — their morning Talmud lesson and a class on Jewish law in the workplace, where they sit next to each other.

Turell’s parents, Laurel and Brad, are also fixtures at the games.

The game experience at Y.U. differs from the rest of college basketball. The crowd sings Hatikvah, along with The Star Spangled Banner. Before a recent livestream, a MacsLive announcer referred to the game as taking place on “motzei Shabbat,” the Hebrew term for Saturday night after dark.

“Within these two or three blocks of the Heights, I think it’s very special,” said Elazar Abrahams, Y.U.’s student council president.

“Jews all over the country feel represented.”

HEALTH+WELLNESS

News LOCA L | NAT IO NAL | WO RLD

Building Racial Stamina workshop at Temple Israel CASSANDRA HICKS WEISENBURGER Temple Israel Director of Communications Temple Israel will host the Interactive Workshop to Dismantle Racism each Tuesday: Feb. 8 and 22, March 8 and 22, April 5, 12 and 26, and May 10, from 7-8:30 p.m.

Temple Israel’s Racial Justice Initiative is pleased to share the next phase of our Racial Justice work: a partnership with Deitra Reiser, Ph.D., Founder of Transform for Equality, as we bring her transformational experience, Building Racial Stamina in the Jewish Community, to Temple Israel.

This eight-week series of facilitated workshops aims to dismantle racism by building racial stamina, defined as the resolve to “engage and persist in conversations and work that furthers racial justice – especially when the work causes discomfort.”

Deitra Reiser is skilled at creating space for the exploration of race and racism. Using the lens of intersectionality, Dr. Reiser fosters greater understanding among individuals and within institutions, and supports their continued growth through antiracist thoughts and actions. Her focus is on driving the internal

work necessary in order to achieve transformational and lasting change.

If you are interested in participating in this sacred work and learning more about intersectional identity, privilege, systems of oppression, the work of antiracism, and how

Deitra Reiser, Ph.D.

and why these conversations must take place in our Jewish communities, we invite you to apply to be part of our first cohort. Space is limited to 14 participants. The deadline for applications is Jan. 17.

May your new year be healthy, happy and prosperous

Publishing date | 01.21.22 Space reservation | 01.11.22 Contact our advertising executive to promote your business in this very special edition.

SUSAN BERNARD | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org

Paid for by Walt Peffer for Douglas County Assessor/Deeds | 11612 Douglas, Omaha, NE 68154

16 | The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021

Above: The RBJH activities department: Sabine Strong, Volunteer Coordinator; left; Faith Gatewood, Activities Coordinator; Roinin Staunovo Polacco, Activities Assistant; Chrissy Caniglia, Assistant Activities Director; Anne Stepanek, 2022 UNO Gerontology practicum student and volunteer; Maggie Conti, Director of Activities and Volunteers; and Jill Ohlmann, Activities Coordinator.

Below: Hot out of the kiln! RBJH Residents have been busy painting Hanukkah and Holiday gifts for loved ones. Assistant Activities Director, Christina Caniglia said, “one strawberry cup became a strawberry patch”!

Top, above and below: Pre-K students from the ELC visited Friedel for their monthly innovation learning class in Friedel’s innovation lab. This month, they tested different materials to figure out which one works the best as a paint brush.

Above: Our Resident artist Annette Fettman stays active painting ceramics in her nook by the window in her neighborhood lounge; her pieces are always unique and beautiful!

SP O TLIGHT

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

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.

Above: Friedel fifth and sixth graders practiced their ocean topography skills as part of an engineering unit in which they designed submersibles.

Left and above: Minyan at Beth Israel.

Below: Improvements to the Beth El building are underway!

The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021 | 17

Voices The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920) Margie Gutnik President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer Mary Bachteler Accounting Jewish Press Board Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Danni Christensen; David Finkelstein; Bracha Goldsweig; Mary Sue Grossman; Les Kay; Natasha Kraft; Chuck Lucoff; Joseph Pinson; Andy Shefsky and Amy Tipp.

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Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

Imagination ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor The name ‘Omicron’ just sounds like the bad guy in a Marvel movie. Like, the type that causes a lot of damage before Iron Man stops him cold. A ‘safe’ scare: you can shiver in your seat while watching, knowing none of this is real. And there are times I’m tempted to follow the paranoid crowd who believe this virus doesn’t actually exist.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if it was just a big bad prank? If someone told us it wasn’t true after all and we could go back to normal, whatever that is?

Unfortunately, that’s not really an option.

One of the things that has always struck me about this country is the lack of limitations. I’m not just talking business ventures and streets paved in gold (I remember my uncle referring to America as “the Goldene Mediene,” no idea if I spelled that right). No, I mean the tendency of Americans to see possibilities where other nationalities might see closed doors. The people in this country have an amazing imagination.

When it comes to thinking up superstitions and conspiracy theories, that is definitely a bad thing.

But in many other respects, it is that imagination that keeps this place running, no matter what—as long as it is paired with optimism. Imagination and optimism: together, they can help us make it through almost everything. Imagine the future is bright; have the optimism that someday we’ll get there.

I am not by nature an optimistic person. Tell me an idea and I’ll show you ten roadblocks. And yet,

after living in this strange place for several decades, I’ve found myself becoming sneakily optimistic.

‘Things will get better!’ I tell my family over Facetime. They just sigh, because they live over there

Credit: Manu Sejas, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

and not here. Europeans aren’t optimists. They are grouchy and opinionated and can always be counted on to talk you down. If you think I’m kidding, you haven’t met my siblings.

But optimism is, I’ve come to learn, the better option: when all else fails, imagine things will get better eventually and we will make it through this.

These are not just empty words to embroider on a

pillow case.

When I imagine a better world a year, two years, from now, I don’t necessarily picture a world without disease. I think that ship has sailed. What I do imagine is a world where we are all a little kinder and a little more patient. A world in which we rediscover empathy for each other, and replace the endless bickering and hate with an understanding that we are all just doing our best.

“People often associate optimism with denial,” Eliezer Zalmanov wrote for the Forward. “How can we be optimistic when reality is so clearly telling us the opposite? How can someone claim that all is well when the world is facing a raging pandemic, poised to take so many lives, G-d forbid? What right do we have to be optimistic?”

He goes on to explain that we have to, whether there is a pandemic or not. The way we should act towards each other should be the same, whether we face tragedy or not. So all the things we tell ourselves (be patient during the pandemic, take care of ourselves and others during the pandemic, etcetera) are true during ‘normal’ times as well.

“Our attitude should be that we must always be there for others, always be prepared to reach out and lend a hand. Gemilut chassadim — acts of kindness — is one of the foundations upon which the world depends.”

Let’s imagine we are capable of that, no matter what is happening in the world; this is where the real optimism comes in. We need to believe that, fundamentally, we all have the capacity to do good, especially towards each other.

We’re in a shmita year. So why aren’t American Jews talking more about student debt relief?

RABBI EMILY COHEN JTA When I finished rabbinical school in 2018, I entered the “real world” with $40,000 in student loans.

I acted fast, prioritizing repayment over everything else. Within six months, I paid nearly $10,000 to eliminate interest, and I continued allocating three times my expected monthly payment. Interest didn’t get much chance to build, and when we hit the pandemic pause, I was on track to clear my loans in two years.

I am unbelievably lucky. My parents were able to help me with undergrad (due to generational wealth resulting from many Jews being coded as white after World War II), I had a scholarship covering half of rabbinical school, and my financial education set me up to make the decision to throw as much as I could at my loans as soon as I finished school.

One of my closest friends? Not so lucky. To pay the loans he took for his advanced degree, he would need to pay twice his rent each month just to scrape the top off the principal. His best hope (and current plan) is Public Student Loan Forgiveness, but the problems with that program have been well documented, and it’s nerve-wracking to watch his balance go up each month as interest continues to build.

When our current president campaigned, he acknowledged the burden of student loans and promised to forgive $10,000 per borrower. Some are also calling for student loans to be forgiven entirely due to predatory loan practices coupled with the often false promise made to my generation that it was through school (and the “good debt” of student loans) that we would reach financial stability. Yet the White House announced this week that a pandemic-induced moratorium on loan repayment will end in February.

While it’s never a good idea to claim that Jewish text has a single opinion on any topic, debt is a subject with clear limitations. In the book of Leviticus, our ancestors are instructed about shmita, which literally means release. One year of every seven,

Jews were to let the land rest and its volunteer pro- make it possible for their balance to go down each duce be eaten by all. The instruction deepened in month instead of up. After all, we have that instrucDeuteronomy, with the call to: tion in the Torah too: …release, every possessor of a loan of his hand, If you lend money to my people, to the poor among what he has lent to his neighbor. He is not to oppress you, do not act toward them as a creditor; exact no his neighbor or his brother, for the shmita [release] of interest from them. (Exodus 22:24) God has been proclaimed!… (Deut 15:2) Student debt affects people of all ages but particAs you might imagine, the practicalities of ularly impacts millennials. I’ve spoken to friends shmita were difficult to enforce, and over time the practice of shmita largely disappeared from Jewish life. It’s only in the last few decades that it’s returned to public consciousness. Which brings us to 5782.

This year is a shmita year.

Jewish organizations across the denominational and political spectrum are addressing this with intentional slimming down of programming and with fundraisers to alleviate medical debt (another shame of this county). But I haven’t heard many Jewish organizations call- Activists hold signs calling on President Joe Biden to cancel student ing for student loan forgiveness. debt and not resume student loan payments outside the White House, I don’t blame Jewish organiza- Dec. 15, 2021. Credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million tions for having other priorities. We’re going into about what they would do without the weight of year three of a public health crisis while reproduc- their student loans. They would be able to save to tive justice, fair housing, voting access and the right buy homes, or pay their rent without fear. They of BIPOC simply to live safely are all in jeopardy. would quit the higher-paying, corporate jobs they And yet? We’re a quarter of a way through a tailor- took to afford to pay their loans and work for nonmade opportunity to bring Judaism to bear on this profits. They would support their aging parents and pressing public policy issue that deserves attention. their young kids properly. They would be able to What if we were to apply this one-in-every-seven think beyond their next paycheck, perhaps for the year debt release to student loans? What if, every first time. seven years, loan servicing providers had to forgive What a worthy release that would be. debt? You go to school, you pay a reasonable Rabbi Emily Cohen is the spiritual leader of amount for a maximum of six years after gradua- West End Synagogue in New York City, a podcast tion, and then you’re free? producer and an artist. She tweets @ThatRabbi Maybe that’s wishful thinking considering the Cohen. priorities of our current society. Here’s a more realThe views and opinions expressed in this article are istic thought: cancel interest. Make student loan those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the borrowers pay back their principal if you must, but views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Synagogues

18 | The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021

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 rbjh.com

TEMPLE ISRAEL

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

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL

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

B’NAI ISRAEL Join us In-Person on Friday, Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m. for evening services with a guest speaker. The service will be led by the members of the congregation. 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, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber.

Handicap Accessible.

BETH EL Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

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

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

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Havdalah, 5:45 p.m. Zoom only.

SUNDAY: Torah Study, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY: Mussar, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham at Beth El & Zoom.

WEDNESDAY: Community Beit Midrash, 7 p.m. via In-person at the JCC or on Zoom.

THURSDAY: Revisting the Classics, 7 p.m. with Hazzan Krausman.

FRIDAY-Jan. 7: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY-Jan. 8: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Havdalah, 5:50 p.m.

Zoom only.

SUNDAY: Siddur 101 with Hazzan Krausman following morning minyan; BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10 a.m.; Torah Tots (Ages 3-5), 10 a.m.

TUESDAY: Mussar, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham at Beth El & Zoom; Miriam’s Coast-to-Coast Book Club, 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Virtual Tai Chi, 3:15 p.m.; BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.; Community Beit Midrash, 7 p.m. via In-person at the JCC or on Zoom.

THURSDAY: Revisting the Classics, 7 p.m. with Hazzan Krausman.

FRIDAY-Jan. 14: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY-Jan. 15: Shabbat Shira, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream followed by a plant-based lunch; Havdalah, 5:55 p.m. Zoom only.

Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and 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 pergola, weather permitting. Physical distancing and masks required.

FRIDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 9:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 4:47 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Class/Kids Class, 10:30 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush, 11:30 a.m.; Mincha, 4:50 p.m.; Shalosh Seudos/Laws of Shabbos, 5:10 p.m.; Ma’ariv/ Havdalah, 5:52 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4:10 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.; Playground Fundraiser Banquet, 5:30 p.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi, 4:10 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.

TUESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi, 4:10 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Wednesday School, 4:15 p.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.

THURSDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Character Development, 9:30 am. with

JEWISH PRESS NOTICE

There will be no Jewish Press on Dec. 31, 2021.

Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi, 4:10 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.

FRIDAY-Jan 7: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 4:54 p.m.

SATURDAY-Jan 8: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Class/Kids Class, 10:30 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush, 11:30 a.m.; Mincha, 4:50 p.m.; Shalosh Seudos/Laws of Shabbos, 5:10 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 5:58 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4:20 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m.

MONDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi, 4:20 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m.

TUESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Kids Class, 3:45 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Wednesday School, 4:15 p.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 5 p.m.

THURSDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Character Development, 9:30 am. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi, 4:20 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m.

FRIDAY-Jan 14: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 5:01 p.m.

SATURDAY-Jan 15: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Class/Kids Class, 10:30 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush, 11:30 a.m.; Mincha, 5 p.m.; Shalosh Seudos/Laws of Shabbos, 5:20 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 6:05 p.m.

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

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

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad.com/Le chayim; Candlelighting, 4:47 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:51 p.m.

SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.

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

TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Virtual Pirkei Avot Women’s Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introduction to Hebrew Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Advanced Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 18 — No advance experience necessary), noon with Rabbi Katzman.

FRIDAY-Jan. 7: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochab ad.com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 4:53 p.m.

SATURDAY-Jan. 8: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:57 p.m.

SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.

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

TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Farbrengen In Honor of Yud Shevat, 6 p.m. at the Katzman Home. (Other details will be posted.)

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introduction to Hebrew Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Advanced Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 18 — No advance experience necessary), noon with Rabbi Katzman.

FRIDAY-Jan. 14: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochab ad.com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY-Jan. 15: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by

Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:04 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL

Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch.

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

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex and Elaine Monnier, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 4:51 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with lay leaders at TI; Torah Study on Parashat Vaera, noon; Havdalah, 5:55 p.m.

SUNDAY: No LJCS Classes; Men's Jewish Bike Group of Lincoln meets Sundays at 10 a.m. rain or shine to ride to one of The Mill locations from Hanson Ct. (except we drive if its too wet, cold, cloudy, windy, hot or humid) followed by coffee and spirited discussions. If interested please email Al Weiss at albertw 801@gmail.com to find out where to meet each week; Come learn and play Pickleball, 7-9 p.m. at Peterson Park; There will not be Pickleball this week.

Pickleball will resume on Jan. 9.

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

FRIDAY-Jan. 7: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex and TBD, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 4:57 p.m.

SATURDAY-Jan. 8: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study on Parashat Bo, noon; Havdalah, 6:01 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS guided tour of the Jewish Museum “Festival of Lights” exhibit, 10 a.m. via Zoom; Men's Jewish Bike Group of Lincoln meets Sundays at 10 a.m. rain or shine to ride to one of The Mill locations from Hanson Ct. (except we drive if its too wet, cold, cloudy, windy, hot or humid) followed by coffee and spirited discussions. If interested please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com to find out where to meet each week; Come learn and play Pickleball, 7-9 p.m. at Peterson Park. Everyone is welcome; just wear comfortable clothes and tennis or gym shoes.

If you need a paddle, contact Miriam Wallick by email at Miriam57@aol.com or by text at 402.470.2393 before Sunday.

TUESDAY: Tea & Coffee with Pals, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom; Jewish Ethical Teachings Class, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Alex.

FRIDAY-Jan. 14: Kabbalat Shabbat Shira Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex and TBD, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:04 p.m.

SATURDAY-Jan. 15: Shabbat Shira Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study on Parashat Beshalach, noon; LJCS Havdalah Service and Kippah Workshop, 6 p.m. at SST; Havdalah, 6:08 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

FRIDAY: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s service is currently closed to visitors.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Brian Stoller, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin and Cantor Joanna Alexander.

DAILY VIRTUAL MINYAN: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. via Zoom.

FRIDAY: Office Closed; Shabbat B’yachad: Sages of the Talmud: Personalities and Legacies, 6 p.m. via Zoom or In-Person.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. via Zoom only.

MONDAY: Jewish Law & the Quest for Meaning, 11 a.m. via Zoom.

WEDNESDAY: Community Beit Midrash: Antisemitism: Historically and Today, 7 p.m. via In-person at the JCC or on Zoom.

THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Class, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel via Zoom.

FRIDAY-Jan. 7: Shabbat B’yachad: Voices of the Congregation with Angela and Stan Krieger, 6 p.m. via Zoom or In-Person.

SATURDAY-Jan. 8: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. via Zoom only; OTYG Program, 4-6 p.m.

SUNDAY: Second Sunday Breakfast Service, 9 a.m. at the Stephen Center; Temple Tots, 9:30 a.m.; Youth See Temple Israel Schedule page 19

Life cycles

The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021 | 19

WHY NOT DO IT THE EASY WAY?

NORM’S DOOR SERVICE

IN MEMORIAM JOSEPH “JOE” KIRSHENBAUM

Continued from page 1 moved to California, there were daily calls to go over receipts and sales numbers.

Life was full in Palm Springs; Audrey became a Nationally ranked Tennis player and has a court named after her at their club. Joe came to play tennis regularly as well. Additionally, he became a regular volunteer at the stroke center in Palm Springs.

Joe was blessed with 54 years of marriage to Audrey. After her death he was blessed to find another 15 years of partnership with Virginia Allen. Joe lived a full life; he was a pillar of society who treated others as he wished to be treated. He often shared his love of Omaha and where he grew up by being a tour guide for North Omaha and the 25th St. synagogue. He supported the Temple as the kids were growing up and studied for their B’nai Mitzvah, and he instilled and lived the importance of family.

“Dad asked ‘don’t cry for me when I die, I had such a great life and family,’” Bill said. “Nothing was left unsaid.”

Joe, if there are tears today, they are tears for the amazing relationship and times we were blessed with, and for the sadness for us that that chapter has come to an end. Joe was a mensch, to true example of humanity, and a blessing to all who called him friend or family. A blessing to this whole community.

He was preceded in death by parents, Meyer and Dora Kirshenbaum; his wife of 54 years, Audrey Wolf Kirshenbaum; his partner for 15 years, Virginia Allen; and sisters, Golda Kirshenbaum and Rose Becker.

He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Tom and Kate

and Bill and Linda; son, Dick Kirshenbaum; daughter and son-inlaw, Kim and Todd Znamenacek; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; brother, Kevee Kirshenbaum; and sister, Phyliss Rifkin.

Memorials may be sent to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, or the organization of your choice.

SHIRA HANAU JTA Countries that bar athletes from other countries will not be allowed to host international sports championships, the International Olympic Committee said in a letter last week. The statement followed the cancellation of the men’s squash world championship last month, which was set to be held in Malaysia Dec. 7, after the country refused to allow Israeli athletes to participate in the contest.

Israel and Malaysia do not maintain diplomatic relations and Israelis are barred from visiting the South Asian country.

Visit us on facebook: ps://www.facebook.com/ShalomahaPress

Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad once said he was “glad to be labeled antisemitic.”

“We urge all [international federations] to be extremely vigilant when allocating and organizing international sports competitions,” leaders of the International Olympic Committee wrote in a letter, according to the Jerusalem Post.

TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress @jewishomaha.org; or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Readers can also submit announcements -- births, b’nai mitzvahs, engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at www.omahajewishpress. com/site/forms/. Deadlines are normally nine days prior to publication, on Wednesdays, 9 a.m. Please check the Jewish Press, for notices of early deadlines.

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Continued from page 18 Learning Programs (Grades PreK-6), 9:30 a.m.; Parents and Proverbs Discussion with Rabbi Azriel, 10:15 a.m.; Rosh Chodesh Event: Painting with a Twist, 1 p.m.

MONDAY: Jewish Law & the Quest for Meaning, 11 a.m. via Zoom.

WEDNESDAY: Youth Learning Programs: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; T’filah, 4:45 p.m.; Community Dinner, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6:30-8 p.m.; Community Beit Midrash: Religious Observances & Daily Life, 7 p.m. via In-person at the JCC or on Zoom.

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

FRIDAY-Jan. 14: Shabbat Shira Musical Service, 6 p.m. via Zoom or In-Person.

SATURDAY-Jan. 15: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. via Zoom or In-Person.

Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

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20 | The Jewish Press | December 31, 2021

News LOC AL | N ATI O N A L | WO R L D

Meet Angelina Muñiz Huberman ALAN GRABINSKY MEXICO CITY | JTA When Angelina Muñiz Huberman was six years old, her mother shut the main door of their apartment in Mexico City and, whispering as if under persecution, told her that she descended from Jews.

“She told me that if I ever needed to get recognized by other fellow Jews,” Huberman said, “I should make the sign of the Kohanim” — a hand gesture representing an ancient priestly blessing.

That moment sparked a keen interest in her family’s Jewish heritage, which would set her on the path to becoming one of Mexico’s best-known novelists on Jewish themes and foremost scholars on Sephardim and Crypto-Judaism — people who were forced to renounce or hide their Jewishness in the face of the Spanish Inquisition.

Last month, Huberman, 84, was inducted into Mexico’s most prestigious literary body, the Mexican Academy of Language, which was established decades after Mexican independence to protect and promote Mexican intonations and uses of Spanish.

Earning membership in the 36-chair academic body is a highly selective process in which new members need to be voted in by current ones.

Of the nine women members of the board, four have Jewish ancestry; some, such as the writer Margo Glanz, daughter of the Yiddish poet Jacobo Glanz, have actively dealt with their Jewish ancestry in their most important texts.

But Huberman’s work stands out because of her research on Ladino, an old form of Judeo-Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews after their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula. Besides being a pioneer in Sephardic studies in Mexico and researching crypto-Jews such as those in her family, Huberman has also focused on mystical Jewish traditions, including kabbalah.

Her academic work often influences her fiction. One of her latest novels, titled Los Esperandos, tells the story of Sephardic pirates in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean in the 17th century.

Born in the south of France in 1936, Huberman’s father, Alfredo Muñiz, was a Spanish journalist who wrote for the Heraldo newspaper in Madrid. When Franco won the Spanish

Angelina Muñiz Huberman is one of a few Jews in the prestigious Mexican Academy of Language. Credit: Huberman

Civil War, her family was forced out of Spain and into France, which they had to flee again in 1939, when the Nazis advanced into the country.

They landed in Cuba and lived in the countryside for a short time before establishing themselves in Mexico. Huberman reminisced about her childhood on the island in her 1995 book Castles in the Earth, which she called a “pseudo-memoir” that mixes fact and fiction.

They uprooted again to Mexico City, in 1942, where Alfredo set up an outpost of a medical lab testing company owned by a relative who lived in New York. The family lived among other emigres in the Condesa neighborhood, a hub of Yiddishspeaking middle-class Jews at the time. This is where she

learned about her Jewish background.

Her first works of fiction use interior monologues to reflect on what it means to hide one’s identity. In her first novel, Morada Interior (or Inner Dwelling-Place), published in 1972, she writes an internal monologue from the point of view of Teresa de Ávila (sometimes called Teresa de Jesus), a Spanish Christian mystic who came from a family of converted Jews. Huberman used pieces from the nun’s real diary to fictionalize an account of how she becomes conflicted by her hidden Jewish identity.

Muniz’s husband, Alberto Huberman, was born in Cuba and migrated to Mexico after the Cuban revolution to finish his medical studies. A member of the leftist-Zionist youth group Hashomer Hatzair, he had previously lived in Israel, where he co-founded Kibbutz Gaash.

“He built the houses, the water tower, the whole infrastructure,” Huberman said. They married in 1959.

For more than three decades, Muniz has taught courses in Hispano-Hebraic literature in Mexico’s National Autonomous University, a behemoth of nearly 250,000 students with a major campus in Mexico City. She said that many of her students, after taking her course, have realized that they also have crypto-Jewish backgrounds, and have undergone formal conversions to Judaism.

Beyond her Jewish side, Huberman also considers herself a representative of the Spanish Exile, a name that refers to socalled “republicanos” who fled Spain’s Civil War under the auspices of Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas at the end of the 1940s. These intellectuals and writers have taken important roles within academic bodies like the MAL, and founded liberal education institutions like the Colegio de México.

“In many ways,” Huberman said, “I’ve been through a double exile.”

Edited for length. You can find the full article at www.omahajewishpress.com.