Update from Mike Siegel

Spring has sprung, and it’s a great time to be living in Omaha! The flowers are blooming, garden beds are being mulched, and we are leisurely walking to our cars after an errand. As we welcome our snowbirds back to town, I would like to highlight some great programs that are inspiring younger members in our Jewish community.

Young Omaha Emerging Leaders (YOEL) is finishing up its inaugural session. They have been learning about the community from our seasoned leaders through a variety of panel discussions. YOEL participants are fully engaged, asking thoughtful questions, and building skills to be future leaders in our community. This group will have the amazing opportunity to meet with the JFNA CEO, Eric Fingerhut, when he visits Omaha in May. Their training and hard work will culminate with a celebratory “graduation.” You can look for these graduates to be joining committees and boards across Jewish Omaha in the near future. I am confident these young leaders will positively impact many organizations. A huge thank you to Stacy Feldman for spearheading this program.

Earlier this year, your Federation started a pilot program for one-on-one mentoring. The program currently has five pairs of mentors and mentees. The goal is to inspire younger members of the community to become more involved in Jewish Omaha. The pairs meet every few weeks to discuss their volunteer experiences, learn about JFO agencies, and discuss their vision moving forward. Giving future leaders a point of contact strengthens intergenerational relationships. As with any pilot program, there is open dialogue between participants and JFO staff so improvements can be made moving forward.

The number of teens participating in Omaha’s B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) has been growing over the last few years. In February, 17 local teenagers traveled to the BBYO International Conference in Dallas, TX. BBYO teens meet weekly to plan events, discuss current Jewish issues, understand their Jewish identity, and brainstorm ways to get more of their peers involved in Jewish life. This past week BBYO held their annual Chocolate Passover where they gathered for a Seder. Thank you to Jacob Geltzer, BBYO/Teen Director and generous volunteers who work with our BBYO teens to ensure the program continues to thrive.

The JFO Board understands the importance of developing our future generations into community leaders. I speak from experience as I am a product of an earlier training model, Jewish Omaha Leadership Training (JOLT). YOEL, BBYO and the pilot mentoring program help ensure the sustainability of our Jewish life in Omaha. With so many volunteer and leadership opportunities available in our broader community, it is incumbent upon us to be proactive in attracting young people to engage in Jewish Omaha.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mike Siegel
JFO President

Update from Phil Malcom

Please pardon our dust!

If you’ve been around the campus recently, you’ve likely noticed that we have a number of projects moving forward. These projects represent the next phase of our community’s growth, and I’d love to share some updates with you regarding them.

Several months ago, I mentioned that we were working on a new museum to tell the history of our community. This space will showcase the ways the Jewish community has made an impact in Omaha, the surrounding region, and throughout the country. I am pleased to say that this week we began construction on this facility, and we are planning an August opening. The Milton Mendel and Marsha Kleinberg Jewish Omaha Heritage Center will be the beating heart of our campus and will be a fantastic place to bring your family and friends to help them learn more about the community’s long history here. We are so thankful for our partners at the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society who are helping us bring this vision to reality. See the video below for a sneak peek!

You’ve also likely noticed the two projects happening right now on the south side of the property. Friedel Jewish Academy’s middle school expansion is well underway, and they plan to open for a new seventh grade class in August. Our thriving Jewish day school is vital to both our present and future community. Similarly, our new pickleball facility is under construction in the location of the old outdoor pool and will be a key part of our plans to engage more seniors and families. Look for a grand opening of this facility in fall as well.

Finally, shortly after wrapping up these projects, we plan to begin a renovation of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home and an expansion to accommodate the growing short-term therapy needs of our community. This project is aimed at enhancing the quality of life for our seniors and ensuring our services are tailored to the next generation of residents at RBJH.

This is a time of exciting change. Our community is thriving, and that is because of the hard work you all do every day to show up, to engage, to contribute, and to participate. THANK YOU, and let’s get ready for the next phase of our community’s development!

Shabbat Shalom & Chag Pesach sameach!
Phillip Malcom
JFO COO

Update from Bob Goldberg, CEO

Meet me in Jerusalem!

This week, a group of twenty-two community members embarked on a trip to Israel, the first community-wide trip organized by our Jewish Federation since 2018. From my perspective, it is always good to spend time in Israel. Having feet on the ground in Israel is special. You can never predict how the experience will impact someone, but it is almost always deep and meaningful. This is particularly true for those traveling there for the first time. No matter the multitude of news, books, magazines, movies or other information about Israel someone might consume, being there, meeting with Israelis, and experiencing its vibrancy, diversity, and complexity firsthand allows one to have a more personal and intimate relationship with the state and its people.

This trip is chaired by Andi and Don Goldstein and staffed by Rachel Ring, JFO Director of Development, with the itinerary organized by Jan Goldstein and Iris Ricks through their work with Amiel Travel. It is a great group, with a busy and exciting itinerary, and I am sure they are having a spectacular experience. Our Omaha friends have a front row seat to Israeli democracy at work. They are visiting at a time when Israel is immersed in turmoil surrounding the government plans to overhaul the judicial system. Israel’s government is currently led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who represents the Likud party.

Israel is a parliamentary democracy, consisting of dozens of parties, and smaller parties that become part of the ruling government coalition can have influence far beyond their number of seats in the Knesset. The Netanyahu-led coalition includes representatives from Likud, United Torah Judaism, Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit, and Noam. This coalition is currently moving forward proposals with major reforms to Israel’s judicial system, which would bring the judiciary under control of the government. Some of the specific changes proposed are aimed at preventing the High Court from acting as a check and balance on government actions, limiting the High Court from challenging laws even if they conflict with Israel’s Basic Laws, and giving the ruling government control over selecting judges. Opponents argue it will weaken Israel’s democracy and put minorities at risk, while supporters say it is much needed reform to control an activist court.

Our Omaha friends on this trip will hear plenty of strong opinions. They will hear from news anchors, guest speakers, hotel workers, waiters, taxi drivers, and others, who will all have vital points of view that they are eager to share with their American guests. The speed with which the government is moving these bills through the Knesset has caused deep rifts in Israel and has led to more than ten weeks of protests by hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrating to express their concern about a weakening of democracy.

Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, has worked to negotiate a compromise, which is aimed at addressing what many consider needed changes to the rules governing the judiciary and the balance of powers, but to do it in a way that helps gain buy-in from the general population and avoids a constitutional crisis. To date, those leading the charge for these changes, Yariv Levin, Justice Minister, and MK Simcha Rothman, head of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, have said that they are open to compromise but will not stop or slow down the process.
This has led to a cacophony of voices, including our own Jewish Federation movement, legal experts, business and financial leaders, global Jewish organizations, and interested parties around the world, imploring the Prime Minister and his government to slow the process and negotiate modified changes with the goal of achieving broad national agreement. Our Jewish Federation joins many other voices in urging the leaders to embrace President Herzog’s compromises to this current crisis, and to work to preserve and strengthen the democratic system with its checks and balances, embracing both majority rule and the protection of minority rights.

Israel will soon celebrate its 75th anniversary. We are the lucky ones. We are living at a time when we can travel to and experience the modern State of Israel. Because, after all, our people have yearned for the same opportunity for centuries. I love Israel. I do not always love its government’s policies, but I love Israel and the Israeli people, and I support them. Their democratic right to elect their leaders is sacred, as is their right to protest, speak up, defend their country, and negotiate their future.

As I watch this situation unfold and keep up on the latest news hoping for compromise to be reached, I am eager to hear from our Omaha friends when they return. I am interested to hear how their front row seat to Israeli democracy influences how they see Israel, understand its complexities, and perhaps how it may inspire them to learn more, engage more, and hopefully return to Israel again and again.

Shabbat Shalom,

Bob Goldberg
CEO