Reposted with permission from the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle

If you have a Jewish middle schooler in your family and they are looking to participate in some fun and engaging activities with other Jewish youth their age, then look no further!  BBYO Connect is the program for them.  BBYO Connect is a program for 6th-8th graders designed to introduce the…

(JTA) –When Ed Shames described his Jewish self, he used the term “tough SOB.”

(JTA) — A Palestinian teenager rammed a car into an Israeli border police officer at a checkpoint early Monday morning, seriously wounding the officer. Officers at the checkpoint opened fire on the driver, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Recognizing the ever-increasing need for financial support for Jewish organizations, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Board voted at their June 15, 2021 meeting to budget $35,000 of the Foundation’s funds to create Foundation IMPACT Grants. 

Crown Center for Senior Living has received a $1million donation from philanthropists Michael and Carol Staenberg to benefit Crown’s capital campaign to construct affordable housing for older adults, and a state-of-the-art community center to be named “Staenberg Commons”.

(JTA) — Israel will bar all non-citizens from entering the country for at least two weeks due to concern about the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The travel ban begins Sunday night at midnight.

(JTA) — Israel announced a temporarily entry ban for foreigners arriving from Africa following the detection of a resistant coronavirus variant that is sparking global concern.

(JTA) — Celebrities are just like the rest of us — flooding their social media feeds with candlelight and sizzling latkes on the first night of Hanukkah.

MUNICH (JTA) – The scene here was supposed to be jubilant this week: After a year and a half of lockdowns and curtailed community activity, rabbis from across Europe were due to gather for a conference to dream big about post-pandemic Jewish life.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (JTA) — Days before a neo-Nazi drove his car into a crowd of protesters here at the site of the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally, he texted his mother.

Sivan Cohen, our Community schlicha will be the Friday night guest speaker at B’nai Israel on Dec. 10, beginning at 7:30 p.m. She is a connoisseur of Israeli wine and spirits and will host a wine tasting during the Oneg after services.

(Baltimore Jewish Times via JTA) — Tens of thousands of leaders and activists from around the world, representing world governments, NGOs and environmental organizations, gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, earlier this month for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26.

(JTA) — The bodies of seven Moroccan-Jewish victims of the COVID-19 pandemic were flown to Israel last week after being interred in a Casablanca Jewish cemetery more than a year ago.

HUNTINGTON WOODS, Michigan (JTA) — For nearly six months, anyone driving through this well-manicured and heavily Jewish residential Detroit suburb was guaranteed to spot the yard signs. They were red, white and blue, with a large black-and-white illustration of a bearded young man sporting a…

   On Thursday, Dec. 9, the Ruby Platt Allyship Initiative (RPAI), in association with the Anti-Defamation League’s Plains States Region (ADL-CRC), the Jewish Federation of Omaha (JFO), Beth El Synagogue and Temple Israel, kick off Unraveling Racism with Adam Fletcher Sasse—a 4-day series of…

Ten years ago, Illya Buzunov never could have imagined that one day he’d be teaching Jews around the world how to prepare potato latkes. 

   Hosted at The Mark Bowling alley in Elkhorn, 22 children and 16 parents from all over Jewish Omaha spent two hilarious hours bowling on a Sunday afternoon. For many it was a reunion of sorts, with some kids knowing each other from the ELC or from camp. For others, like Stacy Feldman, it w…

 Ashley Barrow, Friedel’s new Director of Learning Initiatives, is a familiar face around school. Mrs. Barrow, who has a bachelor’s degree in Education with an Early Childhood Endorsement and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, is in her eleventh year at Friedel.

JTA) — A massive survey conducted over the past year found that even as young Americans are rejecting traditional organized religion, they are still embracing faith and spirituality, broadly defined.

OSWIECIM, Poland (JTA) — In a typical, pre-pandemic year, about 2.3 million people a year visit Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi death camp where nearly 1 million Jews were murdered.

(JTA) — Archaeologists excavating a 2,100-year-old fortress say it provides “tangible evidence” of the events from the Hanukkah story.

This year's bible quiz will be special.  After all, it is the thirty-fifth contest that B’nai B’rith has sponsored. And over the last five years, the number of participants and the audience size has increased dramatically. The scholarship prizes have grown, too.

ISTANBUL (JTA) — Imported Israeli TV has given Netflix several big hits in recent years, largely focused on the travails of Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews. The latest breakout show about a Jewish community is very different.

(JTA) — Municipal authorities in Lithuania have halted the construction of bicycle path near a mass grave of Jewish Holocaust victims, according to a rabbi who raised alarm about the project.

In our November 12 edition, we introduced the commjunity to Adam Fletcher Sasse, who will facilitate an intensive workshop from Dec. 9-12. Titled Unraveling Racism, this multi-day experience will offer participants countless opportunities to learn about both present-day racism in Omaha, as w…

The world needs to know about the richness and diversity of the Jewish people, and we mustn’t let others define our narrative, according to Jewish Asian American advocate Amy Albertson. The social media influencer joined other young Jewish activists who shared their experiences with Zionism …

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Congress have joined numerous groups and individuals in condemning the call by Michael Flynn, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, for the United States to have one religion.

The 19th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival opened on November 20th with the documentary, They Ain’t Ready for Me, the story of Tamar Manasseh, a black rabbinical student who leads a fight against gun violence on the streets of southside Chicago. On November 22nd the Institute for Holocaust E…

In October 2021, a new museum opened in Paris, dedicated to the famous “Dreyfus affair.”

Earlier this month, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled the first  Bobble Menorah and Bobble Dreidel. The Bobble Menorah features nine bobbling flames and comes in three color patterns. The dreidel is on a gelt-shaped base, each side inscribed with the dreidel’s Hebrew l…

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With the renovation of our beautiful Staenburg Kooper Fellman JCC almost being complete, we can wonder: what else is Michael Staenberg up to? One place his focus is on is a place called ‘The District.’

   “Our lives are over in a blink,” Brett Atlas said. “At the end, we’ll want to know we accomplished what we wanted. If I can inspire anyone to make even the smallest change, my writing will have been worth it.”

One of the nation’s fastest-growing media companies is continuing to expand in Nebraska.

    While the Jewish Holidays always come right on time as scheduled, this year everything seemed to happen earlier than expected. As the days are getting shorter and the air grows chilly, Hanukkah is no exception; the first night arrives on Nov. 28 and the holiday concludes on Dec. 6.

    The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, in collaboration with the Omaha Jewish Alumni Association, is thrilled to announce that we are eCreamery’s Community Partner of the Month for December. eCreamery will ship a special Holiday 4-pack of homemade ice cream pints to your relatives, f…

   After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the ADL-CRC hosted the 34th Annual Promoting Empowerment in Our World (PEW), the anti-bias workshop for high school students across the Omaha Metro, on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at Temples Israel. One hundred and ten sophomore high school students with diverse…

Washington, D.C. – The office of Rep. Don Bacon will host a Veterans Burial Benefits Seminar at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) on November 9, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. CT. Representatives from the Omaha National Cemetery, Nebraska Department of Veteran’s Affairs (NDVA), and Douglas County Vetera…

(JTA) — “Deck the halls with matzo balls”? Hanukkah menorahs with 12 candles?

(JTA) — A fire set outside a synagogue in Austin, Texas follows a series of antisemitic incidents in the city in recent weeks.

The Jewish Federation of Omaha and PJ Library are set to host their annual Hanukkah Extravaganza at the Jewish Community Center of Omaha on Sunday, Dec. 5 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

The 19th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival is nearly here, so mark your calendars for November 20, 22, 29, and December 4. All films will be shown at 7 pm in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater on the Staenberg Kooper Fellman Campus. Tickets for the festival are soon to be available o…

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