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ONLINE WEBCASTS

Did you miss Dr. Ron Wolfson at Temple? Check out the webcasts of his presentations below:

April 24, 2009
Calling All Temple Israel Angels

April 26, 2009
Blessings and Kisses – The Power of Family
Dr. Ron Wolfson

Paying my rent to the Jewish community in any way possible

My Jewish Journey- by Jan Schneiderman, President Elect of Temple Israel. Jan shared her journey with the Board of Trustees at the February meeting.

Some of you heard my Jewish journey last summer but this will be a much shorter version.
I was brought up in what I call a secular orthodox home. We didn’t keep kosher and my parents worked on Saturday. We observed some of the Jewish holidays certainly not all. My parents belonged to Beth Israel, which was, then at 18th & Chicago.

We spent Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in Omaha staying at the Fontenelle Hotel so that my father could walk to the synagogue.

As a female, we were not expected to go to Hebrew school nor have a bat mitzvah. And Sunday school at the JCC on 20th & dodge became my only experience in Jewish education which i now know i did not take very seriously.

Being the only Jewish family, life in a small town was often painful for me as I was a frequent victim of antisemitism I believe today that my Jewish identity became stronger because of these abusive incidents.!!

I married les in 1959 at Beth El synagogue where his family belonged and where we then became members.

We have been blessed with three very special children and seven grandchildren.
It was at the beginning of Robin’s Hebrew school year that we decided to join Temple Israel. This quickly became my spiritual home

Our children went to Sunday school, to Hebrew school – all were Bar and Bat Mitzvah. And in confirmation class with Rabbi Brooks.
Being a volunteer was a very important in my Jewish journey. I began this part of the journey with NCJW and in 1999, I was proud to have been elected national president of the oldest Jewish women’s organizations in America. I have been taught to be a leader, an advocate for social justice, and a fund raiser.

It has always been very important to me that my volunteer life center somewhere in the Jewish world. Because if we as Jews don’t do for ourselves, no one else will do it for us. I now serve as an honorary national president of NCJW. I am leadership development chair for the international council of Jewish women. , I have served on the Jewish Federation board both as a board member and as a vice president and have chaired the Federation Women’s Campaign twice. I am a member of the local ADL board and serve as a national commissioner of ADL. I have co-chaired the Nebraska AIPAC council. And am now president elect of Temple Israel.

I travel to Israel each year – sometimes twice. I have traveled on missions with the Jewish Federation, NCJW, ICJW, and with the conference of Presidents of major American Jewish organizations. But probably the most meaningful trip was traveling to Israel with my two older grandsons and seeing life in Israel through the eyes of teen-agers.

There is so much that has shaped my life and my journey and passion as a Jewish woman. My soul was molded by the example set by my parents. And it has been enriched by my family, my friends and my volunteer life. And I continually nourish it by paying my rent to the Jewish community in any way possible.

Temple Israel Responds: Growing Economic Downturn Hitting Omaha Area

We write to tell you that Temple Israel is responding to the impact of the economic downturn on our congregants and our larger community.

If you know of someone in our congregation whose personal circumstances have been made more difficult by the economic crisis and is in need of help, please let them know that we are prepared to be of help. We urge you to contact a member of our clergy or Dennis DePorte, in absolute privacy, about how we can help deal with your specific concerns and needs.

We also appreciate that other congregants who are not affected by the economic downturn may be wondering how they can be of assistance. We are sending a letter to every household with further information about our response and ideas for how you may be able to help.  Also watch for ideas and requests in the Temple Tidings and on our website.

Working together once again, as compassionate Jews in difficult times, we can truly be a sacred and holy community.
Rabbi Aryeh Azriel
Dennis DePorte, Executive Director
Jon Meyers, President

Purple States of America

Magda Peck, Omaha, Nebraska, January 21, 2009

David Anderson Inauguration 2009

David Anderson and Magda Peck Jan. 20, 2009

When I learned a few weeks ago from Senator Ben Nelson’s office that we had been allotted two coveted tickets, I could see it so clearly: standing near the base of the Capitol Steps on a cold sunny day, surrounded by throngs of passionate people of all hues and hometowns crowded together at high noon.. Our son David, a freshman in Political Science at American University, would be at my side as we heard Barak Obama, our President, articulate his vision for a new America in his compelling, stentorian voice.

In the end, that is just what happened, almost.

Participating on the front lines of history is messy, hard work. After a five mile trek from the AU campus, we joined hundreds and hundreds of Purple ticket holders already on line just before 8. We had been instructed to wait in a damp underground tunnel beneath the Mall before going through security at our designated gate at 1^st and Louisiana, two blocks away. The line barely inched along, and no one seemed to know what was holding us up. By 11 am we finally reached the tunnel’s entrance when news quickly spread through the weary crowd that the Purple Gate had been closed due to overwhelming crowds and a possible security breach. We would not be admitted to see the Inauguration.

David simply refused to believe that we wouldn’t get in, that we would be locked out of history. Many folks walked off in anger, but we pressed on snuggling into a persistent throng of still hopeful folks. Waving our Purple tickets, we chanted “Open the gates! Open the gates!” A middle aged African American woman standing next to us would not be denied this moment. She pressed the wheelchair bearing her bundled up 90 year old mother forward stating firmly “We’re Purple and we’re coming through.” The crowd parted to make way, then followed her lead. They re-opened the Purple Gate just before noon. Once past security, we dashed forward to see anything, catching the tell-tale words, “…so help me God.” Cannons fired, and two million and two people roared for change.

Peel away the over-packed Metro, many miles of walking, damp and bitter winds, utterly complicated logistics, and a near miss to the main moment, and it all came down to one thing: bearing witness to history. Being there etched an old life lesson first hand. Yes, we still have Red states and Blue states, Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and progressives and folks still not engaged. We will always have difference – Black and White, Christian, Muslim and Jew. Yet in the messiest of moments of unfathomable importance, our duty is to become purple citizens of change, demanding our place and part for democracy in action.

I remember standing next to my parents at the base of the Lincoln Memorial on a hot ‘60s August day at the Poor People’s March on Washington. I remember feeling the shimmer of his wondrous words, how his message infused me with hope. Sure enough, just in time forty five years later it came full circle. At the other end of the Mall by the steps of the Capitol, under cold blue skies, David was at my side. Blocking the wind from my back, he leaned in for warmth, and rested his chin on my head. And we listened, together, to the newest leader’s fine firm words for a new day.

A Breakfast with Sam Fried by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel

Sam Fried has a powerful story to share.  We need to tell our people.  This man’s life project is to establish Heartland Holocaust Educational Fund, is a non-profit entity, in partnership with the Omaha Community Foundation scholarship to teach the holocaust in NE. This amazing treasure the monument commemorating the holocaust in Lincoln.  Our community and the general community should not ignore the need to hear the life stories of the survivors in our community.

Photo from the Jewish Press of Omaha. Frances and Sam Fried stand before the Wall of Remembrance they donated at the Holocaust Memorial in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln. Fried was awarded an honorary doctorate last month by the University of Nebraska-Omaha for his role in Holocaust education.

Take a trip to Lincoln a half day.  Go and visit, it’s a place for student, teachers, he is organizing a wonderful project.

The Nebraska  Holocaust memorial is located on the grounds
of the Nebraska State Cemetery (WYUKA)
3900 O Street Lincoln Nebraska

Read more about a new fund to offer college courses on Holocaust.

Sometimes life is so hard, you just have to sing.

Today in staff meeting Cantor Shermet gave a compelling D’var.  She shared an article “The Music of Recession” by Goldie Rosenberg. Rosenberg writes about her father’s struggles in tough economic times, his choices, his pressures, his struggles, his relationship with God. It’s a beautiful teaching and so powerful in the midst of our current economic crisis.

As my father told me the story, he said, “It was so bad, I just had to sing.”

“Say again?!” I wasn’t sure I heard right.

He smiled and told me, “Sometimes it is so bad, you just have to sing to God.”

Music is an odd invention; it always employs force. Think about it. The drum is a skin stretched to its tightest which you then pound away at with the drumsticks. The guitar is strings pulled taut, which you then pick or strum at, exerting pressure on the right string. The piano works more or less like the guitar, with strings being stretched and then hit. The flute, the clarinet, the oboe — they take breath pushed strongly through it and constrain it into a narrow space so that there is pressure on that breath, until it escapes through an opening.

All instruments are pressure concepts. As soon as you take away any tension, your instrument won’t work. It needs pressure. (Read the whole article)

As God’s instruments, do we have what it takes to withstand the pressure, to sing a new song to the world?

Thank you for sharing Cantor. Yashar Koach.

The D’var was so powerful we decided to share it with the Board of Trustees as an opening prayer.