MUSIC AND HEALING with Hazzan Joanna Dulkin
Beth El Synagogue hopes you will join us for Music and Healing which promises to provide meaning, inspiration and joy to people of all generations. Beth El is thrilled to present this weekend of events featuring the extraordinary talent and leadership of Hazzan Joanna Dulkin. Through her magnificent voice, authentic spirit, and deep love for music, Hazzan Dulkin has touched countless lives and brought people together in profound ways.
Hazzan Dulkin, a leading voice in American Jewish music, is a gifted cantor, award-winning composer, and beloved educator. Her versatile repertoire includes not only traditional Hazzanut but also Broadway, Israeli, and folk music, guaranteed to delight audiences of all ages. Hazzan Dulkin founded the music program at Camp Ramah Darom and is on the editorial committee of Siddur Lev Shalem, is a long-time faculty member of Songleader Boot Camp, and even became a registered Yoga Teacher. As president of the Cantors Assembly, the international professional organization of cantors, and Hazzan of
Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minneapolis, MN, her contributions to Jewish music and community leadership are unparalleled. I have often said that the ideal 21st-century Cantor embodies a passion for Jewish music, liturgy, tradition, and Jewish sources coupled with a warm personality, outstanding musical talent and a beautiful singing voice. They should be profoundly knowledgeable, adaptable, compassionate, and deeply connected to their community. These qualities and many more describe Hazzan Joanna Dulkin, our magnificent musical scholar-in-residence.
One of Hazzan Dulkin's congregants made the following remark on a video produced by the Cantors Assembly. “We really love her; she helps us connect to the congregation on a very personal level because her enthusiasm is completely contagious... she makes [the synagogue] a joyful place to come to.”
Our Music and Healing weekend will showcase Hazzan Dulkin’s incredible artistry and passion for building connections through music: See Music and Healing page 3
Jewish Teens serve the world
HEIDI HEILBRUNN NEEDLEMAN
JFO Assistant Director of Engagement and Education
Tzedek Teens and BBYO are empowering Jewish youth (ages 12–18) across Omaha to make a difference this spring by participating in J-Serve: Jewish Teens Serving the World on Sunday, April 6, 2025, from 12:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Tzedek Teens and BBYO are uniting to take part in the International Day of Jewish Youth Service, an annual event held in over 250 communities across more than 30 countries.
REGULARS
Motivated by a desire to help animals, the groups reached out to local rescues and selected Town and Country Animal Rescue as this year’s J-Serve project. The nonprofit dog and cat
rescue will provide ample volunteer opportunities for the teens, including organizing donations, folding and storing blankets or towels, restocking the pet food pantry, cleaning up after the animals, and of course, animal socialization.
Participants will meet at the Jewish Federation of Omaha for a kosher lunch before heading to the rescue. Each teen will receive a specially designed J-Serve Omaha sweatshirt to wear while volunteering. After lunch, a bus will transport the group to See Jewish Teens page 3
MARK KIRCHHOFF AND HEIDI
HEILBRUNN NEEDLEMAN
JFO Community Engagement and Education
The Jewish Federation of Omaha is excited to announce that renowned scholar, author and copresident of the Shalom Hartman Institute, Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, will join the Omaha Jewish community for 2025’s Tapestry: A Celebration of Jewish Learning as the scholar-in-residence May 1–10 at various locations throughout the community.
In May of 2024, the JFO launched an exciting new annual initiative called, Tapestry: A Celebration of
Jewish Learning. An annual investment into strengthening the Omaha community’s Jewish literacy, Tapestry selects a Jewish scholar who will travel to Omaha to collaborate with congregations, JFO agencies, and partner organizations. Each host organization or agency customizes a program for a period of learning with the guest scholar. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, noted Jewish scholar, lecturer, and author was the first guest scholar for Tapestry last spring.
During Dr. Kurtzer’s 10-day visit, he will engage with the full spectrum of Jewish life in our community.
See Tapestry page 2
HAZZAN MICHAEL KRAUSMAN
Hazzan Joanna Dulkin
Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
Credit: Petruss, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
celebrating diversity through the joy of circus arts
Circus for all ages
Circus workshop for all ages and abilities (Choose-What-You-Pay)
April 2 | 6:30 PM
The Venue at Highlander
Sensory inclusive performance
April 3 | 7:00 PM
Steelhouse Omaha
JLT internship extends deadline
AMY SHIVERS
Executive Director, The Foundation
In the Feb. 21 issue of the Jewish Press, we announced an exciting new opportunity for high-school seniors and college freshmen and sophomores— the Jacobson Leadership Tomorrow (JLT) Internship. This eight-week, paid summer internship, made possible through an endowment established by Joanie and Richard Jacobson, is a lasting legacy that will empower the next generation of Jewish community leaders and professionals in the Omaha area and beyond. Created to be more than just an internship, JLT is a comprehensive, immersive program to attract and inspire Jewish young adults to consider a career or a leadership role in the Jewish community. It offers hands-on experience, mentorship and leadership development with a variety of Jewish professionals and lay leaders at the Jewish Federation of Omaha and its agencies to tell the story.
• Having access to staff and lay leaders in the intern’s chosen field
• Meeting weekly with the internship’s administrator to ensure a meaningful and productive experience
With the Jacobsons’ generous support and heartfelt commitment to the project, the internship is set to be a premier pathway for young adults to make an impact in the Omaha Jewish community and beyond.
WHY APPLY?
KEY COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNSHIP INCLUDE:
• Matching interns with a Jewish agency/department of their choice that aligns with their particular interests and skills
• Learning new skills while working directly with agency/department staff
• Shadowing the agency/department executive director and management team
• Attending committee and board meetings of various agencies
• Helping to plan and implement events and programs both on and off campus
• Learning the basics of fundraising from Development staff and experienced lay leaders
JLT is not just a summer job — it’s a deep dive into Jewish communal service. Hands-on experience tailor-made to fit the intern, along with access to seasoned Jewish professionals and lay leaders, delivers a real life look at non-profit work in a Jewish setting.
If you’re a young adult looking to gain a valuable experience, build lasting connections and be part of a vibrant Jewish future,
APPLY NOW! NOTE: Application Deadline has been extended to March 31, 2025
Apply here: https://www.jcc omaha.org/jlt-internship/
For questions, contact Brad Abramson at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation: 402.334.6485, babramson@jew ishomaha.org
From the Archive: The Cornerstone
This story was first published in the July 23, 1925 issue of the Jewish Press and is reprinted here in part. You can find the full story on our website at www.omahajewishpress.com.
Fifteen hundred Omaha Jews, many with tears in their eyes, witnessed the laying of the cornerstone Sunday of the new $300,000, three-story Jewish Community Center, located at Twentieth and Dodge Streets.
The event was considered one of the most important in the history of Omaha Jewry. It meant to many that, at last, here was a dream that will come true.
“For more than 20 years, we have been hoping for this day. The day when we could know that we would have a building in which all Jewish activities could be centered,” said Harry Lapidus, president of the Omaha Jewish Community Center. He has been one of the prime movers in the securing of a community center for Omaha Jewry.
The clear weather brought out a large gathering to the cornerstone laying. Police were needed to clear the intersection of Twentieth and Dodge, so many cars and motorists having gathered to witness the laying of the cornerstone. The cornerstone was laid by William L. Holzman, past president of the Jewish Community Center. He has been prominently active in the securing of funds for the center.
A copper box in which copies of The Jewish Press and the three Omaha newspapers were placed together with records and the history of Omaha Jewish life were placed in the cornerstone by Dr. Philip Sher.
Governor Adam McMullen told the large gathering that the unfinished structure represented, when completed, what Fanueil Hall is to Boston and Independence Hall is to Philadelphia.
“Fanueil Hall at Boston awoke the wrath in our forefathers, Independence Hall made our revolutionary ancestors conceive the idea of liberty and Mount Vernon was the guiding spirit of the struggling republic when the public was in sore need of aid.”
“There is a soul in every kind of building of this sort,” said the governor. “But the thing that counts is not the architectural beauty, nor the size or cost of the building. What really counts are the activities centered in the building. It is the things of merit that will be within these walls that will make this community center a great success.”
Governor McMullen said the very name of the building will indicate its true worth and its future possibilities through its friendliness and generousness. He said “the good it will do can never be enclosed within the boundaries of any building.”
“Remember,” he told the 1,500 gathered at the ceremonies, “the basic principle behind this building is friendliness. That is the spirit of the world.”
Rabbi Benjamin M. Frankel, director of the Hillel Foundation of America, located at the University of Illinois, said a community center is the same as a hub of a wheel in that all
activities, all developments and culture radiate from it.
The success of the building, Rabbi Frankel said, will depend on the interest and activities given it by the people of the city—all of whom should be given representation.
“This building should represent the finest and best qualities within you.”
He said it is not interest in things that produce activities but activities that produce interest.
“In this building will be room for the reform and the orthodox, the conservative and the radical,” Rabbi Frankel said. David Sher, a 17-year-old student at the law school of the University of Nebraska and son of Dr. and Mrs. Philip Sher, brought the large gathering to thunderous applause when he said that “a building such as this, where good men and women are made, is more important to a city than any industrial plant in the city.”
He spoke on behalf of the younger generation.
There were tears in the eyes of Henry Monsky, attorney, when he read a telegram from Harry Wolf, Omaha realtor, now at Miami, Fla.
The telegram was as follows. It was sent to Mr. Lapidus:
“I am sorry that I cannot be with you today to help in celebrating the laying of our cornerstone of our future home. I envy you and congratulate you on being the head of this great institution at the most important part of its history. My heart beats fast, and my eyes are filled with tears of joiy contemplating the enthusiasm and happy gathering of our people at Twentieth and Dodge Streets on this looked and hoped for occasion.”
Tapestry
Continued from page 1
A detailed schedule of programs will be shared soon. These events will be hosted in collaboration with the following partners: BBYO, Beth El Synagogue, Beth Israel Synagogue, B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers, B’nai Israel Living History Synagogue, Chabad of Nebraska, Friedel Jewish Academy, Harris Center for Judaic Studies, Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Federation of Omaha, Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, Temple Israel, The Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies, and Tri-Faith Initiative.
We encourage you to mark your calendars for May 1–10 and follow the Jewish Press, the JFO E-news, website and social media posts so that you may engage in what will prove to be a meaningful, educational, and intellectually challenging experience.
If you have questions, please contact Naomi Fox, nfox@ jewishomaha.org
MUSIC AND HEALING
Continued from page 1
• Friday evening, March 21, 6 p.m.: Hazzan Dulkin will join us for Shabbat services, offering a deeply moving and uplifting start to the weekend.
• Shabbat morning, March 22, 10 a.m.: She will enrich our Saturday morning services with her melodic voice and inspirational leadership.
• Saturday Evening Coffeehouse, March 22, 8 p.m.: Hazzan Dulkin will perform alongside a group of our talented local musicians in an intimate setting. Together, they will explore the contemporary musical response to the ongoing conflict in Israel, blending music and dialogue to inspire reflection and hope.
• Sunday morning, March 23, Hazzan
Jewish Teens
Continued from page 1
Town and Country Animal Rescue, with a return to the Staenberg Omaha JCC.
In addition to volunteering, the teens will collect essential items such as towels, blankets, dog and cat food, treats, and durable toys to support the rescue. Donations can be dropped off at the Staenberg Omaha JCC main entrance starting March 24 through the day of the project.
For many years, J-Serve Omaha has encouraged teens to come together to uphold core Jewish values: performing acts of loving kindness (gemilut chasidim), charitable giving (tzedakah), and repairing the world (tikkun olam). These same values are reflected year-round through Tzedek Teens’
Dulkin will engage with our Religious School students in an interactive session, and she will join Torah Tots to share her love of music with our youngest members.
This unique experience with Hazzan Joanna Dulkin offers an unparalleled opportunity to bring our community together, reflecting on the healing power of music and its role in addressing some of today’s most pressing challenges.
We are grateful for our sponsors: Sam and Kathleen Dubrow, additional anonymous donors, and the Feldman Foundation for making this weekend possible.
For more information, please visit our website, https://www.bethel-omaha.org/ or email hazzankrausman@bethel-oma ha.org
other volunteer projects, which typically occur four times a year.
Jewish youth ages 12–18 can register for JServe by clicking the provided link or scanning the QR code. A waiver from Town and Country Animal Rescue will be emailed to those who register.
For any questions, please contact: Naomi Fox, Director of Community Engagement and Education – nfox@jewishomaha.org or Klara Gilbert, BBYO Director – kgilbert @jccomaha.org
February with the Kaplan Book Group
SHIRLY BANNER
JFO Library Specialist
On Feb. 20 the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group gathered for their monthly meeting. They had the privilege of being joined via Zoom with author Jonathan Dunsky who discussed his novel Auschwitz Detective. Dunsky last visited with the group in 2023 via Zoom to discuss his first novel, Ten Years Gone. This year’s Zoom visit was generously funded through the Richard and Frances Juro Charitable Fund for which we were very grateful. If you missed the presentation, you can view it at https://youtu.be/58u2kU0cmDc
Jonathan Dunsky once again presents the group with another case for his protagonist Adam Lapid to resolve. This book differs from his other books in the Adam Lapid series in that the mystery is not set in Tel Aviv shortly after the Israeli’s War of Independence, but rather in the concentration camp of AuschwitzBirkenau where Adam barely survived before
his liberation and migration to Palestine.
The Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. and new members are always welcome.
The Kaplan Book Group receives administrative support from the Community Engagement & Education arm of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. For information about the group and to join in the discussion, contact Shirly Banner at 402.334.6462 or sban ner@jewishomaha.org
LOCAL PRIMARY ELECTION
Snowbirds
Jonathan Dunsky
Update about Livingston Plaza
Community Conversation with Dr. Andreas Musolff
MORGAN GRONINGER
JCRC Program and Communications Manager
On March 27 at 7 p.m., the JCRC, IHE, and partners from UNL are hosting Dr. Andreas Musolff, Emeritus Professor of Intercultural Communication at the University of East Anglia, for a Community Conversation. Dr. Musolff, a leading expert in the field of intercultural communication, will be discussing the role of conspiracy theories in Nazi and Neo-Nazi discourse and offering insights into how we can counter these harmful narratives using tools from cognitive linguistics.
The spread of Nazi and Neo-Nazi conspiracy theories poses a significant challenge to our society today. These theories often thrive in environments of fear and uncertainty, where they can be used to scapegoat marginalized groups, create division, and undermine trust. Dr. Musolff will emphasize the importance of countering these harmful narratives and the role that language and communication play in fostering a more inclusive and rational society.
The Community Conversation will take place in the Wiesman Room and is open to all members of the community. Whether you are an academic, a student, or simply someone interested in learning more about the role of language in politics and society, we look forward to seeing you there.
This event is sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council, Institute for Holocaust Education, UNL Harris Center for Judaic Studies, UNL Research, and UNL Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education. Community Conversations are generously sponsored by Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation.
Andreas Musolff graduated from Dusseldorf University in 1983 and received his PhD in German Linguistics in 1989. He also worked for 18 months at a school for disabled children. He has since taught at universities in Germany and the United Kingdom and has held visiting professorships also in Israel, Spain, and the Netherlands. He is now Professor Emeritus of Intercultural Communication at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK). He has published widely on Intercultural and Multicultural communication, Metaphor Studies, and Public Discourse Analysis; his book publications include the monographs National Conceptualisations of the Body Politic, Political Metaphor Analysis, Metaphor, Nation and the Holocaust, Metaphor and Political Discourse, and 11 co-edited volumes. He is currently preparing a monograph on Cognition and Conspiracy Theory, to come out with CUP by the end of this year, and a co-edited volume on Healthcare, Language and Inclusivity, with Routledge.
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 -- www.omahajewishpress. com/site/forms/. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.
Over the past several years, our Staenberg Kooper Fellman Campus has seen tremendous growth. We’ve added our Goldstein Aquatic Center, the Alan J. Levine Pickleball Court and the Milton Mendel and Marsha Kleinberg Jewish Omaha Heritage Center. The Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater has been completely refurbished and our Schlessinger Family Lobby benefits all visitors and staff, and those are just a few of the changes we have seen. It’s an exciting time for all who utilize our building!
Due to this immense growth, the decision was made in December of 2023 to decommission Livingston Plaza. At this moment, all Livingston residents have successfully relocated, with assistance from the Jewish Federation of Omaha.
As part of our core mission, the JFO paid for the moving expenses of all residents and utilized a dedicated resource to help residents find new homes. The JFO thanks the Seldin Company for their many years of partnership on the facility and their help in this decommissioning process.
The next step will be to demolish the building, which will create the needed space for the expansion of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. This will allow the RBJH to meet their goal to enhance the quality of life for the Residents. At the same time, it will provide us all with additional, much needed, parking. The demolition process will begin in midMarch and is scheduled to be completed by Memorial Day.
We recognize that this project will bring temporary inconveniences and for that, we apologize. We will work to keep these disruptions as minimal as possible and will regularly communicate any changes in a timely manner, including maps that clearly show how traffic around the building is affected. Parking plans will be included in our E-news, as well as on our website and via email. We are confident the end product will be worth it. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to improve our campus.
2025
HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS
PARENTS & SENIORS
We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 23, 2025. To be included, fill out the form below with a photo and send it to us or you can email the information and photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org by May 5, 2025.
Dr. Andreas Musolff
Who is the Stranger?
SHIRLY BANNER
JFO Library Specialist
On March 20 at 1 p.m. the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group will gather for their monthly meeting. Group members have the choice of meeting either in person in Conference Room A in the Staenberg Jewish Community Center (note: this is a location change) or via Zoom. This month they will be discussing The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom. The group previously read Albom’s novel The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto in August of 2023 and wanted to discuss another of his fictional works.
The rich and egotistical Jason Lambert, owner of the luxury yacht Galaxy, has assembled a list of who’s who in the technology, political and celebrity worlds for what was supposed to be a weeklong adventure and exchange of ideas. Our story opens with the Galaxy having been lost at sea and a single lifeboat of ten survivors adrift somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The survivors consist of both Lambert’s guests and the Galaxy’s crew. On the third day after the yacht sank, the survivors rescue an eleventh person who is adrift in the ocean. He appears to be unscathed despite his time in the shark-infested water. When one of the survivors comments, “Well, thank the lord we found you,” our stranger’s response is “I am the lord.”
ities. He is a man battling his own demons, the recent loss of his young daughter. Perhaps this is a reason why he is so intent upon discovering the lifeboat’s mystery Albom presents us with the dilemma of deciding whether the stranger is indeed the “lord,” despite not seeming to do anything to help the lifeboat’s inhabitants in their quest for survival and rescue. To be saved, all the survivors need to do is believe in the stranger. The reader is forced to decide just what and who we believe in – we are led to question our own value system. So often people question G-d’s existence and seek help and answers only when their lives are in flux due to an illness, a death, or trouble.
This suggests the story:
A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to G-d for help. A rowboat comes by and the fellow shouts to the man on the roof,
“jump in, I can save you.”
The stranded fellow shouted back, “no, it’s ok, I’m praying to G-d and he is going to save me.”
This happens several times and finally the man drowns and goes to heaven. When he finally gets his chance to discuss this whole situation with G-d he exclaims, “I had faith in you, but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!”
To this G-d replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”
The Stranger in the Lifeboat is narrated by Benji who was one of the yacht’s crew who is writing in a notebook to his beloved wife Annabelle, recounting what has taken place just prior to and after the Galaxy’s sinking. A year after, the empty lifeboat from the yacht is discovered washed up on the small island of Montserrat, Jarty LeFleur, the island’s chief inspector, serves as a second narrator of the novel. He is tasked with solving the mystery of what happened to the yacht and if there were any survivors. Jarty discovers Benji’s notebook in the abandoned raft but does not report finding it to his higher author-
Please feel free to join us on March 20 at 1 p.m. in person or via Zoom when we will be discussing The Stranger in the Lifeboat. The Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. New members are always welcome.
The Group receives administrative support from the Community Engagement & Education arm of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. For information about the group and to join in the discussion, contact Shirly Banner at 402.334.6462 or sbanner@jewishomaha.org
Two more months of Reserve Duty
In normal times, an infantry soldier in the IDF Reserves could expect to serve a total of one month every three years. This past February, after serving for about 220 days since Oct. 7, 2023, my son Elie, a Major in the Reserves and a Company Commander, had to rally his troops for another lengthy period of service. While some of his men felt that they could not leave their jobs or their families again, 70 of his 90 men showed up on February 23 for two more months of reserve duty (yes, they are scheduled to be on base for the Passover Seder). The men are stationed in the Shomron (Samaria) near the Jewish settlement of Ateret. Elie says that the war in Gaza has led to an increase of terrorists in the territories.
With Elie away from home for an extended period of time, civilian “Team Elie” went into action once again. Hotel Arfa reopened, as Hadar and their three kids moved in with Elie’s in-laws, Rivka and David Arfa. Thankfully, the Arfas live in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mordot Gilo, just five minutes away from Elie and Hadar, and so the children could continue on in their same pre-schools. Jerusalemite siblings, Hadar’s sister Yifat and Elie’s sister Rebecca, try to regularly help with the kids’ pick-up; Tuesday is my day to help out; and my son Ezra, who lives on a farm outside of Jerusalem, regularly has the kids over for petting-zoo time.
Like other Companies stationed in Judea and Samaria, Elie’s is charged with maintaining a presence in the area’s Arab villages. This means patrolling inside the villages by jeep and on foot. If they encounter something that they find suspicious, they investigate. For example, when they saw a man with an overly impressive motorcycle, they ran the plates, learned that it was stolen, and handed the man over to the police. On the same outing, someone threw a Molotov Cocktail and damaged a jeep (Elie’s men escaped injury and
Military Intelligence helped them arrest the perpetrator that night). Elie said: “I’d rather have them attack the army than attack civilians.” According to Elie, the calculus is simple: There are terrorists in every village; if the IDF does not patrol a village to keep the terrorists in check, the terrorists “raise their heads” and attack Jewish civilians in Israel.
You would think that after making Aliyah in 1997 to the settlement of Givat Ze’ev and thus living amidst neighboring Arab villages for 22 years, I would not have been surprised by what Elie told me. But I was. Elie was describing what he called “the quiet war.” To him, every Arab village is an enemy village. When I balked at this, he asked, rhetorically: “So just what do you think would happen if you drove through one of those villages?”
Elie made it clear that the IDF only goes into Arab villages that are in areas that also have Jewish settlements. As further evidence for the importance of these patrols, Elie reminded me that in the “disengagement” from Gaza in 2005, there were also four Jewish settlements in the Northern Shomron that were dismantled. Until August 2005, the army had patrolled Arab villages adjacent to the four settlements; these patrols stopped after the pull-out. The result? Over the past two decades, that area of Samaria has been the source of a shockingly large number of terrorists. “It’s either the IDF patrols an Arab village or the terrorists get the upper hand,” Elie said. I was frankly depressed by what Elie told me. All those enemy Arab villages, all those potential terrorists just waiting to rear their violent heads. Elie takes this all in stride. He says that there is nothing to worry about if we are strong and demonstrate our strength. Elie is hopefully right, but oh my God, how far we are from the vision of peace promised to us by our prophets.
Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah with his wife, former Omahan Sarah 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
TEDDY WEINBERGER
Above and below: The RBJH is unique compared to other facilities because it is linked to the Jewish Community Center and has access to all its various programming. The Residents enjoyed attending the tech rehearsal for the JCC Dance Training Company performance, Be the Light. The event took place in the elegant Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater, which provided a memorable experience. The residents relished the different dance pieces and beautiful costumes. It was a delightful event.
SP O TLIGHT
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
Left and above: Retro Day at the RBJH!
Below: Beth El’s Ruach group baking challah to deliver to members.
Above, right and below: Hamantaschen Baking at Beth El.
Top, above and below: In honor of Read Across America Day, Friedel teachers dressed up as favorite book characters.
VEGETABLES
“My mother taught me... no matter how poor, we would eat off clean white linen, and say the prayers before touching anything to the mouth. And so I do it still. Whenever I sit down, I eat with G-d, my mother, and all the Jews who are doing these same things even if I can’t see them.”
BASHA
A member of the Aliyah Senior Citizens’ Center in California, preparing her dinner eaten alone in her tiny room, over an electric hot plate, quoted in Number Our Days by Barbara Myerhoff, 1978
STUFFED ARTICHOKES
Nancy Greenberg
Ingredients: artichokes
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 tsp. salad oil
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3 Tbsp. parmesan cheese red pepper, to taste salt and pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash artichokes and remove stems and disclosed leaves. Cut off thorny points about 1” from the top. Cook covered in a small amt. of water which has salt and lemon juice. Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add beef. Stir and cook until browned. Add seasonings, crumbs and mix. Stuff mixture into leaves of artichokes. Pack filled artichokes tightly in a pan with high sides. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with salad and hot bread.
EGGPLANT CASSEROLE
Etta Epstein
Ingredients: celery, chopped onion, chopped green pepper, chopped mushrooms, sliced 1/2 can water
2 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced in rounds
2 eggs matza meal
1 8 oz. tomato sauce
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Chop onion, celery and green pepper. Sauté in butter. When slightly brown add mushroom and sauté. Add 1 can tomato sauce plus 1/2 can water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Sauce can be made ahead. Slice eggplants. Beat eggs and dip each circle in egg mixture, then into Matza meal. Place circles on an oiled flat casserole dish and pour sauce over all. Bake for 55 minutes. Cool. Serves 10.
The Untested Cookbook
CINNAMON RIBBON BREAD
Lisa Epstein
Credit: Sally’s Baking Recipes
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar (divided)
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and 1 cup of sugar until creamy and light. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Beat in flour mixture and sour cream, alternately, with dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Spoon about 1/3 of batter into greased and floured 9”x5” loaf pan. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle the top of the bread with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake for 55 minutes or until done. Cool bread for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
CONFETTI FRUIT NUT BREAD
Debbi Josephson
Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar 2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, cut up
1/2 cup broken nut meats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter. Add sugar, eggs and bananas. Sift flour and soda. Add to butter mixture and beat well. Fold in nuts, chocolate chips and cherries. Put in greased and floured small size loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes. For a fancy effect before baking, decorate the top of the loaf with pecan halves and cherries. Better when kept wrapped in the refrigerator for several days.
KAMISH BREAD WITH CHOCOLATE CENTERS
Jeanette Nadoff
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup salad oil
4 eggs
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1 tsp. vanilla 1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. chocolate syrup
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs, orange peel, vanilla and salt. Mix at medium speed until well blended. Beat in 2 cups of flour mixture. By hand stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Separate 1/3. C. of dough and stir in the chocolate syrup. Refrigerate and cover plain and chocolate mixed dough for several hours or overnight. Pat plain dough (on a floured board) into three 8”x4” rectangles. Spread 1/3 or chocolate dough on each rectangle and place each one on its side along the edge. Roll as jelly roll, flatten slightly. Place all on one ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 min. Cool slightly. Slice and place back in the oven to brown for 10 to 15 minutes according to your taste.
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Don’t leave the stage
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT
Jewish Press Editor
So, the Oscars. I didn’t watch, because there is always (always!) controversy and I’m tired of it. But, of course, you can’t be awake and miss the fall-out, so yes, I too heard all about how Adrien Brody won best actor for his role in The Brutalist, how his speech was too long, the fact that he had the chutzpah to mention antisemitism, and a random smattering of other bad things about him.
I happen to love Adrien Brody. He looks exactly like my grandfather, which is as good a reason as any to like him. The length of his speech cannot be the real reason people disliked his appearance; if length was a problem, one wouldn’t watch the Oscars at all. The entire thing is too long. Why single out one person?
Here’s why: disliking the fact that a Jewish actor wins an Academy Award for a role in a movie that deals with the Holocaust—it’s a problem for many. Yet, most people are still not willing to say that out loud. So, they will fuss over other things instead (thank G-d that speech went over the allotted time, they think. Now we have somewhere to put our righteous indignation).
Then, he also said this:
“I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war, and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering, and I believe that I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.”
The Jewish present
MICAH BIDNER
JTA
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
The credits rolled on the screen in my family room. Bubbe, my paternal grandmother, turned to me and my entire family.
“Wow,” she said, “that really seems like you and Jonah.”
I laughed, but she wasn’t wrong. Sitting in my family room, watching Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” I saw my dynamic with my cousin, Jonah, playing out on the screen — our arguments, our inside jokes, our inevitable push and pull.
As a 17-year-old, Jewish high school student, I saw myself as David, Jesse Eisenberg’s character — anxious, calculating, always trying to plan ahead. My first cousin Jonah, on the other hand, is Benji Kaplan, as played by Kieran Culkin. He is unpredictable, effortlessly funny and constantly toeing the line between charming and maddening. Watching David sigh in response at Benji’s antics felt like watching myself react to Jonah in real life. The way Benji made impulsive choices while David tried to keep everything under control was a dynamic I knew all too well.
Beyond just the laughs, and genuine familiarity of the movie, A Real Pain provides commentary on grief, history and the ways in which intergenerational trauma lingers and impacts each one of us. The cousins travel to Poland to honor their grandmother and connect with their Holocaust history, yet their personal tensions constantly overshadow the weight of their family’s past. And that, too, felt familiar.
Watching the movie, it struck me. How do we, the next generation, carry the weight of stories we never lived? Especially as we continue to lose those who did in fact live these experiences.
This question remained in my mind long after the movie ended, and it wasn’t just A Real Pain that brought it to the forefront. In recent months, more Jewish and Israeli narratives took center screen. These movies, including The Brutalist and September 5, prove to be more than simple entertainment. While they are indeed beautifully crafted movies,
At first glance, that seems like a nice and innocent enough statement. Of course, immediately after, the hate went anything but unchecked.
The moment he uttered the word ‘antisemitism,’ he lost the audience. Had he spoken out against Hamas, and voiced support for Israel, things would have been much worse, judging from the level of heartburn over what he did say. It makes me a little
they also explore Jewish identity, history, and resilience.
In a time when the world feels increasingly unstable—when antisemitism is on the rise and the war in Israel dominates headlines — these films aren’t just stories. They are mirrors, tools for reflection, ways for young Jews like me to understand where we come from and what that means today. As someone who has attended a Jewish day school in New York State for most of my life, I’ve been immersed in the history, texts and traditions that shape our identity. But these films offer something different — they make that history feel urgent, personal, and deeply connected to the present.
sorry he didn’t just yell Am Yisroel Chai. It’s silly, I avoided watching the ceremony itself, but then spent a good half hour online reading all the post-Oscar comments. The ratio of love vs. hate was about 1:20. And outright ugliness aside, many of the comments still fell into the category of excuses. People hate, but they want to sound reasonable when they express that hate. It’s very exhausting, and I was tempted to leave a comment or two myself, asking why they don’t just come right out and say that they are upset because Adrien Brody is a Jew.
Personally, I am very pleased that he went over the time limit. The man had things to say, and he should say them. None of us should keep quiet just because the world would like us to, especially now. Stand up, speak up, talk through the music and make people listen, whether they like it or not. If they were going to be nice about it, we wouldn’t have to speak out loud to begin with. All those comments from haters? They perfectly illustrate why this man at this moment would and should not leave the stage.
Of course, all of this is another storm in a teacup. We’ll forget all about it in another few days, because we have other things to worry about. Hostages, the price of eggs, the war in Ukraine. Yet, I think it was important in that moment for one of us to hold space, to stay put and not falter. It’s a reminder that it is up to us to demand our place in the world, refuse to move and hang on to that microphone for dear life. Someday, someone will hear us.
of the attack, I couldn’t help but think about how we consume news today, how acts of violence and terrorism have become so constant that they sometimes feel impersonal. But this film didn’t allow for detachment. It forced me to feel, to grieve, to recognize that the pain of the past is not as distant as we sometimes believe.
Take The Brutalist. It’s a visually stunning, deeply personal story of a Hungarian-Jewish architect and his wife struggling to rebuild their lives in postwar America. Watching it, I felt an acute awareness of my own family’s history — of how displacement and reinvention are key components of the Jewish experience. It made me think about what it means to carry our past forward, to build something new while never fully escaping the weight of what came before.
Then there’s September 5, a chilling retelling of the Munich Massacre in which Israeli Olympic athletes were held hostage and then killed by members of the Black September terrorist group.
What struck me most wasn’t just the horrifying event itself, but the way the film captured the journalists who covered it — people who, despite having no personal connection to the Israeli athletes, felt the gravity of the tragedy as if it were their own. Watching their slow realization of the magnitude
When the credits rolled, I immediately thought, “It’s like history repeating itself.” For months, my family and I have sat together in this very room, watching news updates about the war in Israel, counting the days since Oct. 7, checking our phones for news of the hostages. The footage of desperate journalists scrambling for information in September 5 reminded me of how I’ve spent the past few months—refreshing headlines, searching for clarity, trying to make sense of something that will, honestly, never make sense.
My generation grew up with breaking news alerts lighting up our phones, tragedy after tragedy playing out in real-time, grist for political arguments that turn victims and perpetrators into convenient abstractions. But September 5 didn’t let me look away. It reminded me of the sad reality that we have been through this reality before. It reminded me that behind every headline, there are names, faces and families left shattered.
See Jewish present in new films page 9
Clockwise, from top left: Scenes from September 5, A Real Pain and The Brutalist. Credit: Paramount Pictures; Credit: Searchlight Pictures; Credit: A24
Actor Adrien Brody accepts the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Brutalist onstage during the 97th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, March 2, 2025. Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
Meaningful engagement while maintaining your wits
SHARON BRODKEY
JCRC Executive Director
Recently, on an information and solutions-sharing call with JCRC directors across the country, one of our colleagues invoked the adage about “drinking from a firehose, but with only a straw. The “tsunami” of executive orders, outrage, antisemitic rhetoric – take your pick— has JCRCs scrambling to answer complex questions about impacts to our communities from the cancellation of Holocaust Remembrance Day and Jewish American Heritage Month to whether their autistic kids are going to lose special accommodations that help them succeed and feel safe in schools! The sheer volume and speed at which the noise is coming at all of us is mind-blowing.
More than 700 bills and 18 Constitutional amendments were introduced in the Unicameral this legislative session. However, fewer than 80 of those bills will go the distance and make it to floor debate or a first-round vote. Among the bills that we are watching, one mandates a mainline Protestant version of the Ten Commandments be placed in Nebraska classrooms – an issue that many lower courts have settled time and time again. Another bill would allow Nebraska school boards/districts to employ a chaplain, in a paid or volunteer capacity. These chaplains will not be required to be certified by the Commissioner of Education to perform various duties at the school including providing academic, career, emotional, spiritual, and behavioral health support to students.
Other bills are a direct attack on some of the values we as Americans and Jews hold very dear; laws that are already rolling back the clock on protections against discrimination and bias; laws that would have a profound impact on programs like our Promoting Empowerment in our World (PEW, formerly known as Prejudice Elimination Workshop), the teaching of history, and Holocaust and genocide education. There’s also
a bill that would eliminate voting by mail and mandate certain requirements are met in order to vote early. Lots of noise!
When we add social media into the atmospheric caldron of simmering bigotry and White Christian Nationalism, it’s all just too much for some people to take. Well-intentioned, factual online feedback and engagement with people we thought were reasonable, and reasonably kind or intelligent, can elicit intense responses from hurtful words to threatening behavior. More noise and mean spirited as well! Posts on social media propagating misinformation, fear, and name-calling are making people physically and mentally sick. Community members are reporting to JCRC that they feel angry, helpless, and scared. Many have said they are measuring and reducing their consumption of news, time spent online, and some are even going cold turkey on both.
There are community resources that can help. First, and foremost, if you are feeling overwhelmed, distracted, and/or depressed, Jewish Family Services can help with everything from support and recommendations to referrals. When you’re part of this Jewish community, you are never alone!
Second, Civic Nebraska recently published three questions you can ask yourself to stay engaged without getting caught up in the noise and fear:
1. Does this issue have real-world consequences? Wholesale firings of civil servants and closing of government agencies have real consequences in the lives of many. That’s concerning. However, changing the name of a body of water on some maps and apps is not quite as consequential and can probably take a lower priority on the list of things to act on, respond to and worry about.
2. Is this being amplified to distract from more important issues? This could look like spending time, human resources and political capital on arguing about requiring schools to display “In G-D We Trust” and the Nebraska state motto, “Equal-
ity Before the Law,” in classrooms — not beyond the concern of many — while lawmakers are pushing far more consequential legislation that would end protections from discrimination, benefits for families with special needs the U.S., or even dismantle the Department of Education.
3. Finally, as yourself, Who gains from focusing on this? The best example given by Civic Nebraska is as follows: “Take the notion of labeling certain protests as ‘domestic terrorism’ while quietly eroding civil liberties in the background. That’s a classic bait-and-switch: Stir up fear about protesters so that those in power can justify expanding surveillance or cracking down on political opposition. Meanwhile, corporate tax cuts are being spooled up with barely a peep in the news cycle.” In other words, if an issue is being used to cultivate division and polarization, we should take a closer look at what’s at stake, and who benefits when we’re distracted and divided. These guidelines can help add perspective and perhaps even some objectivity. Applying these questions is similar to what Clean Speech Nebraska taught us about lashon harah. When you encounter something online or in a social setting, ask yourself three questions before engaging :
1. Is this true? Can I prove or substantiate this?
2. Is this kind? Does it help or harm?
3. Is this necessary? Does my engagement with this serve a good purpose?
The Jewish community has so much to offer in shaping the laws that improve our society and preserve civil and human rights, and remaining engaged in our democracy is vital to fighting antisemitism and all forms of harmful hate and discrimination. In these interesting times when we are feeling threatened and like we’re drinking from the firehose with only a straw, don’t lose heart or give up! Take a breath, step back, and ask three questions.
Hamas has made me hate. How can I pray for peace?
RABBI
MARC KATZ
JTA
I’m beginning to come to terms with the fact that I am feeling hate — an unsettling, unfamiliar emotion for me. And I’m not alone. Congregants who have viewed themselves as peace-loving, balanced and open have talked about the murder of Shiri Bibas and her children, the locked caskets, the unidentified body in place of Shiri’s, and the fact that two of the remaining hostages were made to attend the ceremony where their brethren were freed with vitriol. These congregants spit out invective against Hamas, but it doesn’t stop there. “Maybe it would just be better to burn the whole place down,” they say, only to catch themselves with looks of horror.
I never thought I would be here. I’ve often admired the compassion and love shown by members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, who forgave Dylann Roof for shooting and killing their fellow parishioners. If I were in a similar position, could I tap into this well of compassion? Could I see the radical humanity of even the most evil individuals?
Judaism may preach forgiveness, but unlike its Christian counterpart, it’s not so quick to demand it. Judaism allows for hate, it makes room for it, because it understands that it must, but at the same time it puts guardrails around it to ensure it does not consume us.
The first thing that Judaism demands of hate is that it must have a reason. We are often taught that hatred is what caused God to destroy the Second Temple. But the hatred that brought about the destruction of Jerusalem was a specific breed, sinat chinam, baseless hatred. In Hebrew the word chinam means free. It’s unearned hatred. It’s being despised not for what you have done, but for who you are. It’s the kind of hate that has grown so big that the cause is almost forgotten. A hatred without a base has no platform on which to build redemption.
This indeed is a dangerous kind of hatred. But there are plenty of other times in Jewish history, text and liturgy that statements of hatred seem to be tolerated in light of great evils done to us. We are told to blot out the memory of Amalek, who tried to destroy our ancestors while we wandered in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Our Haggadah preserves our ancestor’s call for vengeance against their oppressors during the Middle Ages. We may diminish our wine during Passover when we recall the plagues, but each day we proudly recite the Song of Sea (Exodus 15) where we call God a “man of war” and praise God for throwing a horse and chariot into the water.
Christianity may preach turning the other cheek, but Judaism takes a more nuanced approach. It can hold the need for peace, forgiveness and reconciliation alongside the very human need to look at those things and scoff, “Not yet, maybe not ever.”
But how can we hate? Is there a healthy way? I have found two texts instructive on this front.
The first comes in the most unlikely of places: the commandment to avoid hatred in the first place. Leviticus 19:17 reads, “Do not hate your brother in your heart.” While often we focus on the first clause, the command, I’ve always believed that it’s the second phrase that matters more. Picking up on the words “in your heart,” the medieval commentator Maimonides recalls the story of Amnon and Absalom. After Amnon rapes Absalom’s sister Tamar, Absalom stews in his
Background: Hamas terrorists prepare to give bodies of the Bibas family and Oded Lifshitz, Israelis abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, and later killed, to the Red Cross in Gaza, Feb. 20, 2025.
Credit: Hasan Eslayeh/Anadolu via Getty Images
hatred. He never confronts his brother. He seeks no justice. His animosity festers. It grows rotten inside him until one day, he rises up and kills his brother. This leads to his downfall. Soon he finds himself spinning out of control in open rebellion against his father, King David. The story ends with Absalom’s death and a family in complete ruin.
Hatred is dangerous because it rots you from the inside. It’s been described as drinking poison you intend for another. In our world, it’s shameful to feel hate, so we keep it bottled up. But shame is fed through silence, and it festers if unattended. In a perfect world, when we speak of our hurt and anger it will lead the one who wronged us to seek reconciliation. Knowing that’s impossible with Hamas, the best we can hope for is that someone will hear our pain and acknowledge it. We have to find productive ways to let it out.
The second teaching comes from another surprising place. The Torah tells us that despite hating our enemy, we must return his lost oxen to him if we find it (Exodus 23:4). Furthermore, if you see your enemy’s donkey struggling under its burden you need to help it (Exodus 23:5). Ideally, this will initiate a rapprochement. But the Torah doesn’t say this. It is possible to go through all the trouble of helping your enemy’s animals and remain foes.
Perhaps this text is teaching something else. In Jewish law there are two types of commandments we might fulfill. Some are completely in our control, like prayer or Shabbat, which are time bound, and we choose to observe. Others we encounter by luck. We gain merit by doing them but don’t always have the opportunity to do them every day. Among this second category is the lost oxen or the stumbling donkey. Imagine
one’s joy at gaining the opportunity to return this lost property or help this struggling animal, but imagine one’s chagrin at realizing that it means doing a favor for one’s enemy. Yet if we let hatred become so all-consuming that we pass the chance to perform the mitzvah, we let our enemies rob us of our opportunity to fulfill our ethical mandate. Our hatred of them clouds our ability to do what we think is right. They have won by changing us.
Hamas is my enemy, but I refuse to let them change me. I pray every day for Hamas’ destruction. And unlike our ancestor Bruriah, who taught to limit our prayers solely to ones where evildoers repent and change their ways, my prayers this week often include much darker ends. But in my brokenhearted anger and rage I remain steadfastly myself. When push comes to shove, I can’t let my hatred of Hamas fundamentally transform me.
If Israel needs to go back to war to wipe out Hamas, so be it. But hatred is not a Rubicon. In the ensuing war, I must couple that feeling with compassion for innocent lives, a hope for a quick end to the violence and prayer for an enduring peace. Rabbi Marc Katz is the rabbi of Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He is the author of two books: "The Heart of Loneliness: How Jewish Wisdom Can Help You Cope and Find Comfort" and "Yochanan’s Gamble: Judaism’s Pragmatic Approach to Life."
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.
Jewish present in new films
Continued from page 8
These movies aren’t just powerful — they are necessary. At a moment when Jewish identity is being questioned, debated and sometimes outright attacked, they serve as reminders of where we’ve been and where we’re going. They offer connection in a time of division, storytelling in a time of uncertainty.
For me, these films have been more than just cinematic experiences; they have been moments of learning, of feeling, of sitting with my emotions in ways I never had before. They reminded me that history is not something that stays in textbooks — it’s alive, shaping the way we see ourselves and the world around us.
And so, I invite you to watch them. In the end, these films are not just about Jews in the past. They are about us, here, now, finding our place in the ongoing story.
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.
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
Synagogues
618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766
712.322.4705 www.cblhs.org
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
TEMPLE ISRAEL
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206
402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY:
TIFERETH ISRAEL
Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org
Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, March 14, 7:30 p.m. with our musical guest speaker, Kyle Knapp. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!
For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, MaryBeth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.
IN-PERSON AND ZOOM 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 and Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 8:05 p.m. Beth El and Zoom.
SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Hands On Judaism, 10:30 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman.
MONDAY: Women’s Book Group, 2 p.m. at the home of Sheryl Friedman.
TUESDAY: Mishneh Torah, 10:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.
THURSDAY: PJP Eretz Yisrael Zoom Series — Hadas Cohen, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY-Mar. 21: Kabbalat Shabbat with Musicianin-Residence Joanna Dulkin, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.
SATURDAY-Mar. 22: Shabbat Morning Services with Hazzan Dulkin, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah and Coffee House Concert with Hazzan Dulkin, 8 p.m. Beth El and Zoom. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.
FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit and Megillah Reading, 7 a.m.; Megillah Reading, 4 p.m.; Beth Israel Purim Carnival, 4:30 p.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:12 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9
a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 6:15 p.m.; Mincha, 7 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos 7:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:12
p.m.
SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.
MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 7:20 p.m.
TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7
a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.
THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.
FRIDAY-Mar. 21: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit,
American
BEN SALES JTA
7 a.m.; NCSY Middle School Shabbaton in KC; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:20 p.m.
SATURDAY-Mar. 22: NCSY Middle School Shabbaton in KC; Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 6:25 p.m.; Mincha 7:10 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos, 7:40 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:20 p.m.
Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.
All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person and via Zoom (ochabad.com/academy). 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.; Purim Feast: Lunch Hour Edition, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at Chabad; Family Drive by Purim, 4-6 p.m., at Chabad, go to ochabad.com/ purim for more info and to RSVP; Candlelighting, 7:12 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shacharit 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 8:12 p.m.
SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.; Sunday Pod, 9-11 a.m. RSVP by texting ‘Sunday Pod’ to 402.215.5240;.Zelig and Muky Katzman’s Reception, 3-5 p.m. at Chabad, RSVP by texting Mushka at 402.215.5240.
MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m. with Shani Katzman; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Translating Words of Prayer, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
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; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 10 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon-1 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m.; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY-Mar. 21: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 5 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 7:19 p.m.
SATURDAY-Mar. 22: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 8:20 p.m.
Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Ki Tisa led by TBD via Zoom; Potluck Dinner and Family Game Night, 6 p.m. at SST. Adults and kids of all ages are welcome. Please bring a dish to share; Havdalah, 8:15 p.m.
SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at TI; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at The Mill on the Innovation Campus. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; LJCS Purim Spiel, 11 a.m.–noon at TI; F St Rec - Feed the Children, 1:30–3:30 p.m. at F Street Community Center, 1225 F St, Lincoln.
WEDNESDAY: Offices Closed: Men’s Lunch Group, 12:15 p.m. at HoriSun, 8055 O St. We meet every other Wednesday. Contact albertw801@gmail.com to join and receive updates. Bring your own lunch and beverage; LJCS Hebrew School, 4:30-6 p.m. at TI.
THURSDAY: SST Board Meeting, 6:30–9 p.m. on Zoom.
FRIDAY-Mar. 21: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:307:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7:22 p.m.
SATURDAY-Mar. 22: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Vayakhel led by TBD via Zoom; Havdalah, 8:22 p.m.
FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.
In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander.
FRIDAY: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SUNDAY: No Youth Learning Program.
WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; No Youth Learning Program this week
FRIDAY-Mar. 21: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. In-Person; Tot Shabbat, 5:45 p.m. In-Person; Classic Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SATURDAY-Mar. 22: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
OBITUARY CHANGES
Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options.
FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7:14 p.m.; YJI Purim Costume Party, 8:30– 10:30 p.m. at 1867 Bar, 101 N 14th St #6, Lincoln.
SATURDAY: habbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by
As of January 1, 2025, the Jewish Press will charge $180 for the inclusion of standard obituaries, up to 400 words. Photos may be included if the family so wishes. For many years, we have held off on making this decision. However, it is no longer financially responsible for us to include obituaries at no charge. For questions, please email avandekamp@ jewishomaha.org. Obituaries in the Jewish Press are included in our print edition as well as our website at www.omahajewishpress.com
Hostage Edan Alexander is still in Gaza
In his speech to Congress on March 4, President Donald Trump was expected to bring up the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. In the audience were the parents of the last American captive thought to still be alive: Edan Alexander.
Alexander, born to Israeli parents and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, was taken captive in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack at age 19 while serving in the Israeli military on the Gaza border. After graduating from high school, he moved to Israel and enlisted.
Alexander was one of dozens of Americans captured or killed in Hamas’ attack, and was one of seven American hostages — three living and four dead — to still be held in Gaza when the latest ceasefire began in mid-January.
Over the course of that ceasefire, the two other
living Americans, Keith Siegel and Sagui DekelChen, were returned to Israel. But Alexander was not included in that hostage deal because he was a soldier — and there is currently no timeline for his release.
In an effort to keep attention on Alexander’s plight, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, along with New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House leader, invited Alexander’s parents Adi and Yael to Trump’s speech. Other family members of American hostages, in addition to rescued hostage Noa Argamani, were also set to attend the speech as guests of lawmakers, and Trump was due to meet with a group of freed hostages later in the week.
“Their presence ensured that no American forgets their son, 21-year-old Edan, is still being held hostage in Gaza,” Gottheimer, who is Jewish and running for governor, said in a statement. “We must get every hostage home. The United States
should never leave any man or woman behind.”
Gottheimer’s district includes Tenafly, home to a sizable Israeli and Jewish community, and he recently traveled to Qatar, where he lobbied the country’s leaders to help free Alexander. Qatar has housed the leaders of Hamas and is party to negotiations over the ceasefire.
Hamas released a video showing Alexander speaking to the camera in November. His parents are holding out hope that they will soon see their son alive, and back in Israel.
“We just holding and hoping and praying that he’s OK,” Yael Alexander told an American Jewish Committee podcast in 2024. “That he’s still strong there, in heart and in mind, in everything … All the time I’m praying, ‘Please, Edan. Please stay strong.
Don’t let it break you. Even if you hear the bombing you know people are coming to save you. You’re not alone. We are coming.'”
B’NAI ISRAEL
BETH EL
BETH ISRAEL
CHABAD HOUSE LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL
Life cycles
TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS
JOHN S. KATELMAN
John S. Katelman passed away on March 4, 2025 at age 76 in Fort Meyers, FL. Services were held on March 7 at B'nai Israel Synagogue (618 Mynster St, Council Bluffs, IA)
He was preceded in death by his parents, Milton and Doris Katelman.
He is survived by his wife Jeanne, children: Josh, Julie and Jay (Katrina); stepchildren: Daniel (Sara) and Mitchell Raznick; grandchildren: William, Haley, Vivian, and Parker; step-grandchildren: Cooper and Lila; and brother, Howard (Susan).
John was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He graduated from Creighton Law School in 1972 and practiced law in Omaha for over 40 years. He was involved in many of the area's real estate development projects. John was an avid reader, sports enthusiast, and athlete. Retiring to Florida, he enjoyed traveling and dominated the tennis and pickleball courts, as well as the occasional round of golf. You could often find him in his office spending hours perfecting his fantasy baseball lineup, and spending time with his beloved dog Gertie. John was a kind, humble, and generous man who will be eternally missed by many friends and family that were so grateful to have known him. Memorials may be made to the Together Inc., American Heart Association, or the Alzheimer Association.
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.omahajew ishpress.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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Elissa Slotkin has a riveting family immigration story
PHILISSA CRAMER
JTA
After Donald Trump spoke to Congress for the first time since he reentered office, the nation’s broadcasts turned to Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
The Michigan Democrat was chosen to deliver her party’s response to Trump’s speech Tuesday night, March 4, in what was closely watched as a bellwether for how the Democrats will contend against a turbocharged Trump.
Slotkin, 48, is a Jewish senator who won a tight swing-state election last year, following six years in the House of Representatives. In a year that was deflating for Democrats across the country, she prevailed as a moderate, pro-Israel Democrat in a state that Trump won and that has a sizable Arab-American minority.
Slotkin’s responsibility on Tuesday night was to rebut Trump’s State of the Union-like speech, which focused on the president’s policy priorities.
On one of them, immigration, Slotkin has a riveting family story of her own.
Slotkin was born in New York City but grew up largely on her family’s land in Holly, Michigan, where she lives today. Her grandfather bought the land when he moved the headquarters of the family business, Hygrade, from New York.
Founded in 1914 by Slotkin’s great-grandfather Samuel, a Jewish immigrant from Minsk, Hygrade was a pioneer in processed and
packaged meats whose contributions included Ball Park Franks, still the most-sold hot dogs in the country.
Samuel Slotkin was the subject of a twopart New Yorker profile in 1956, when the multimillionaire, then around 70, still lived in New York City. According to the profile, he was one of nine children of a Talmudic scholar in Koidanov, a town outside Minsk that was a center of Hasidic Judaism in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Samuel, a hustler from birth, bristled at the family’s expectations and sought to leave Russia to make his fortune in the United States. Too young to get a passport, he decided to emigrate despite his parents’ wishes, swimming across a river to evade German and Russian border police, and hitchhiked across Germany to Holland. The year was 1900, and he was 14.
the profile says. Instead, he thought of himself as an artist but fell into business through the influence of an older brother, then embarked on a series of ventures that steadily expanded his reach in the meat industry.
“When Slotkin, with a dollar eighty left in his pocket, sailed from Holland to America, which at that time admitted immigrants without passports, he had neither the intention nor the desire to become the head of a meat-packing company and make millions,”
Samuel Slotkin had come during a peak period in a wave of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe to the United States. At least seven of his eight siblings arrived Stateside, according to genealogical records, and his father was buried in New Jersey.
In 1924, Congress passed the Johnson-Reed Act, severely limiting immigration and effectively closing U.S. doors to Jews from Eastern Europe on the eve of mass persecution. Most Koidanov Hasids were murdered in the Holocaust.
Elissa Slotkin ran into the great-grandson of Samuel’s brother on the way to being sworn in. She took her oath of office on a book of Torah commentary by women published by the Reform Jewish movement, with which her family has been affiliated.
Slotkin began her career working at the CIA, where she served multiple tours in Iraq. In 2018, a wave year for Democrats during Trump’s first term, she won election to Congress, where she emphasized bipartisanship, occasionally crossing party lines to vote with Republicans. A recipient of support from PACs affiliated with the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, she has voted since Oct. 7, 2023, for Israel-related measures that divided her Democratic colleagues, such as to fund Israel’s military and to equate anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
As a member of Congress, Slotkin proposed mandating Holocaust education as a strategy to combat the rise of domestic extremism. She was inspired in part by the neo-Nazi and Holocaust-related symbols that appeared during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by supporters of Trump.
On Tuesday night, she took the spotlight in a speaking slot that hasn’t always brought acclaim to its occupants. Several rising stars of both parties have been tapped to deliver the State of the Union response — only to be panned by viewers and colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
Elissa Slotkin of Michigan speaks before U.S. President Joe Biden at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 324 in Howell, Michigan, Oct. 5, 2021. Credit: Elaine Cromie/Getty Images