Patty Nogg is a historian of sorts. Salvaging family papers, photos, memories is something she relishes, so when she began working on the Council Bluffs Cemetery project, she took the time to send relevant items to people in the community. When she looks at her old Sunday School photos, she …

(JTA) — When is it anti-Semitic to criticize Israel?

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Orthodox Union expressed confidence in President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, and called for an “expeditious” confirmation, an exceptional statement spurred by concerns about rising extremist violence and anti-Semitism.

(JTA) — Hackers shut down an Atlanta synagogue’s live stream of Senator-Elect Raphael Warnock delivering a sermon to honor Martin Luther King, whose church he leads.

(JTA) — As the videos of George Floyd’s killing galvanized a historic wave of racial justice protests this past summer, the staff of one of the country’s leading organizations promoting Jews of color knew they had to make a big change.

    Next week marks the annual celebration of Tu B’Shevat, the new year for trees. Trying to remember the meaning of Tu B’Shevat? Celebrated on the 15th of Shevat, it is the day that marks the beginning of the “new year” for trees. It marks the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in …

  Theodore (Ted) M. Seldin passed away peacefully at his home in Omaha on Jan. 9. He was 89 years old.

(JTA) — The sweatshirt, spotted amid the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, seemed designed to provoke fear. 

Many words can be used to describe Paul Smith: beloved teacher, Holocaust education veteran, founding IHE council member and Nebraska Holocaust Consortium co-creator are just a few of them. Having taught English for 37 years, Holocaust education has been part of his world for well over half …

JTA) — They warned us. And warned us. And warned us.

(JTA) — AIPAC hardly ever pronounces on any issue that does not relate to Israel. It’s also loath to criticize a sitting president.

(JTA) — Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel made the news Wednesday morning when Raphael Warnock, the Democrat who won one of two Georgia Senate elections Tuesday, invoked the rabbi during an interview on CNN.“I think Abraham Joshua Heschel, the rabbi who said, when he marched with Dr. King, he fel…

(JTA) — When Christie Moore rolled up her sleeve to get her COVID-19 vaccine earlier this week, many thoughts went through her mind. Among them: a set of Jewish blessings that rabbis suggested for the occasion.

    On Sunday Jan. 31 at 1 p.m,. Beth El invites you to join us for an exclusive 90-minute winter concert featuring singer-songwriter and guitarist Lazer Lloyd direct from his home in Israel via Zoom.

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts recently awarded Dr. Michael Eppel the 2020 State of Nebraska Volunteer of the Year award. Dr Eppel was honored for his work with Lincoln Literacy and creating its CNA training program.

The amount of work that has been completed at the Jewish Federation of Omaha in recent years, in no small measure thanks to Michael Staenberg, is astounding and, Michael hopes, an inspiration to us all.

Join the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies, University of Nebraska-Omaha on January 7, 2021 from 7-8 pm for an online event featuring Tristan Newman talking about the history and future of Zionism.

It’s Musical Theater time at the JCC Performing Arts Department, but this time with a PLAY! The month of January can be a bit dreary, but we have the perfect medicine to cheer you up: our performance of Alice in Wonderland!

Your support of the JFO Annual Campaign makes an impact on the local, national and global level. The annual campaign is at the heart of any strong Jewish community and allows our agencies to plan for the future. The funds raised this fall and winter will set the amount that is available to s…

During this time of hunkering down and staying at home more, Jewish Family Service ( JFS) began a monthly newsletter with the intention of reaching as many community members as possible with some helpful resources during this unprecedented time.

Jewish Family Service was recently asked if they could help facilitate finding a family who may be dressing up their pet for Hanukkah so that the Jewish community can be represented, as well as other holiday pets, in the continuing effort to educate others and decrease the stigma about menta…

It is no secret Kate Kirshenbaum has a passion for service. In fact, she has been serving the Jewish Community most of her adult life. What started as a way to engage with other like-minded Jewish women, has turned into a lifelong commitment.

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat running for Senate in Georgia, said Tuesday that he had an “increasing recognition” of the danger that Hamas poses to Israel since his harsh criticisms of Israel in a 2018 sermon at his church.

(JTA) — In his 28 years at the CIA, Darrell Blocker figured out a reliable strategy for recruiting covert agents.

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Some of  Rabbi Levi Shemtov’s most prominent congregants are likely to leave his synagogue soon, but the Washington, D.C., rabbi isn’t sweating it.

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — There’s a huge pipe organ where the Torah ark should be, but otherwise this city’s Royal Concert Hall looks, sounds and feels like a synagogue for one night each year.

   Nearly 1,000 online sessions. 587 unique users. 114 in-person QR scans. The ADL-CRC’s first ever COVID-safe Walk Against Hate™ Journey inspired hundreds throughout the Omaha Metro to explore (actually and virtually) the evolution of civil rights and civil liberties in our community.

    The idea is simple enough. A single flame, expected to extinguish at the end of its term, is the first candle lit each night.  It is the servant that honors the miracle of lights. It stands apart from the other candles either being above or below the others. The message is, it is there t…

The Omaha community is preparing to honor Dr. Leonard Greenspoon in a “Mini-ZOOMposium,” noting especially the release of his most recent scholarly book, Jewish Bible Translations: Personalities, Passions, Politics, Progress. This special event will be held via Zoom on Sunday, Dec.20 from 2-…

   Your support of the JFO Annual Campaign makes an impact on the local, national and global level. The annual campaign is at the heart of any strong Jewish community and allows our agencies to plan for the future. The funds raised this fall and winter will set the amount that is available t…

   Chabad staff and volunteers are creating a Hanukkah version of our celebrated Taste of Tradition gift packages. Distributed throughout the community, these gifts let homebound folks know they are remembered, cherished and never alone. Packages will include Hanukkah foods, interesting Hanu…

DALLAS (JTA) — Most will be virtual, some will take place as part of tightly regulated events — but there will be menorah lightings and more Hanukkah festivities this year in Texas, despite the coronavirus pandemic. 

(JTA) — Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tuesday that his party will back a bill crafted by the opposition in parliament to dissolve the government, likely sending Israel to its fourth election in two years.

Since astronaut Jessica Meir returned to Earth in April from the International Space Station, she — like all of us — has spent a lot of time indoors and cooped up.

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The simmering fear among Middle East watchers that President Donald Trump might attack Iran in the waning days of his presidency was inflamed on Friday when assassins shot to death the man believed to be responsible for Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

    I look at Hanukkah in many different ways. Translated, Hanukkah means dedication or to dedicate, and it shares the same Hebrew root as the word chinuch, meaning education. I want to use these two words – dedication and education – to tell you about a gift that was given to the Omaha Jewi…

    Fran and I first journeyed to Indonesia about 35 years ago with a small group. There are 17,500 islands in Indonesia. We visited the large islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, and even Irian Jaya (the western part of the island of New Guinea that is a province of Indonesia). A lot occurred on…

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President-elect Joe Biden announced the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas, a Latino Jew who has emphasized the heightened threat facing American Jews, as his Homeland Security secretary on Monday.

    • The Henry Ford, a museum that is named after a famed anti-Semite, has a “Hanukkah Lamp” (menorah) in its collection. The Henry Ford has tried to distance itself from its namesake’s anti-Semitic history.

(JTA) — President-elect Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he has made his pick for treasury secretary and that he’ll announce the choice around Thanksgiving. He added that he thinks the pick will be “accepted by all elements of the Democratic Party,” from the “progressive to the moderate …

JTA) — In the days after the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history, Pittsburgh became a symbol of the enduring dangers of hatred, as well as the Jewish communal solidarity that followed the synagogue shooting.

Omaha businessman Allan Noddle, ‘62, will receive the 2020-21 Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Nebraska– Lincoln’s College of Business. The college’s most esteemed honor, the award recognizes individuals for their outstanding leadership, as well as time, energy and guidance …

Omaha, NE (November 19, 2020) - More than 150 clergy representing Jewish, Christian, and Muslim congregations throughout Nebraska have signed a letter from the Interfaith COVID Task Force, urging Governor Pete Ricketts to institute a statewide mask mandate. Signatures are still being collect…