Jews and Judaism in Omaha, Nebraska
Encyclopedia
The history of the Jews
in Omaha, Nebraska
goes back to the mid-1850s.
The Jewish
community in Omaha, Nebraska
has made significant cultural, economic and social contributions to the city. The first Jewish settlers came to the city shortly after it was founded in 1856. The most numerous Jewish immigrants were from eastern Europe and the Russian Empire. They arrived in four waves of immigration to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Immigrants were active in working class and socialist politics, especially during the 1920s and 1930s. Others established themselves as merchants and businessmen in the city. The Jewish community supported philanthropy and created important cultural and charitable institutions. Born to socialist parents in Omaha, renowned Jewish feminist author Tillie Olsen
worked when she was young in the meatpacking plants and helped organize unions. The Jewish youth organization Aleph Zadik Aleph
was established by immigrants in Omaha.
Today there are many Jewish families who have lived in Omaha for four generations. These families have followed the expansion of the city to the west, with the center of their residential areas and synagogues having moved from Downtown Omaha
and the Near North Side
to the West Omaha suburbs. New Jewish immigrants have come to the city from Russia and Eastern Europe
since the 1980s. Historically Omaha served as a point of migration for Jewish Americans who moved on to other cities. Today people from across the country can recall Omaha in their family histories.
and Reform Judaism
worked to create strong congregations. In January 1871, Temple Israel was founded as the first Jewish congregation in Nebraska. Immediately afterwards, the congregation formed a burial society and established the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in order to provide ritual services to the city's Jewish community. The first confirmation
service was held in 1872, and the congregation was incorporated with the city of Omaha in 1873.
In 1884 the congregation dedicated the first synagogue in Omaha at 23rd and Harney Streets. Later in the century Eastern European Jews immigrated to the city. In 1886, an Edict of Expulsion
was enforced against the Jews of Kiev, which led many to migrate from the Ukraine to the United States. Omaha became home to hundreds, as they settled in the older neighborhoods of the city.
By 1890 the federal census recorded 1,035 Jews in Omaha. In 1892, Temple Israel invited the newly ordained Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
, a recent graduate of Hebrew Union College
, to become their rabbi. Franklin immediately set about spurring changes aimed at strengthening Reform Judaism in the congregation, such as the adoption of the Union Prayer Book
and the ritual recently endorsed by the Central Conference of American Rabbis
. Franklin also pushed to increase the Building Fund, slated for the construction of a new and larger Temple for the Congregation. As time passed, Franklin gained a reputation as an eloquent and idealistic preacher. He won prominent admirers among Omaha's Christian community as well, such as William Jennings Bryan
.
Franklin was active in work outside the Omaha congregation. He established a Reform congregation, B'nai Yeshurun, in Lincoln, Nebraska
; helped found the first normal school
in Nebraska for the training of religious teachers; served as the editor of the Omaha Humane Society
's publication, and lectured in other cities (most notably Sioux City, Iowa
). In 1896, the congregation elected Franklin to another five-year term as rabbi. Franklin's prominence led to an invitation to speak in Detroit, Michigan
in 1898. He was immediately offered the rabbinate at that city's Temple Beth El
. Franklin accepted Beth El's offer, leaving Omaha in January, 1899. After his departure, Franklin remained in contact with his former Omaha congregation, and participated closely with planning and building of Temple Israel's new Temple, completed in 1908.
neighborhood, along with B'nai Jacob, a Conservative congregation. As generations of congregants passed on or moved out of the neighborhood, both congregations closed. Their cemeteries are next to that of Temple Israel on Pleasant Hill.
The J. L. Brandeis and Sons Store Building
was opened by Brandeis, a notable member of Omaha's Jewish community, in 1906. Wise Memorial Hospital, named in honor of Rabbi Joseph M. Wise, was located at 406 South 24th Street on a lot donated by Brandeis's wife. Built in 1912 for $125,000, between 1912 and 1917 the hospital treated more than 1,000 patients. In 1930 the institution closed.
The Jewish Press began publication in 1920; it is still being published, and Omaha has the distinction of being the smallest community in the United States that is able to produce a weekly Jewish publication. In 1924 Omaha's Jewish community celebrated opening its own exclusive country club
in response to policies at established country clubs which excluded Jews. While social practices changed in the city among both Christian and Jewish Americans, Warren Buffett
was one of the first non-Jewish members at Highland. He joined the club in the 1980s to promote anti-discrimination. The Highland Country Club at Pacific and 132nd Streets was renamed Iron Wood in 2000. It no longer specifies Jewish-only membership, just as most other country clubs no longer exclude Jewish Americans or other minorities. The Omaha Jewish Community Center
was founded two years after the country club, in 1926. The JCC moved to its present location at 333 South 132nd Street in 1973. The original JCC was the site of important labor organizing in the city, and has continued to serve as an important center for financial support in Omaha's Jewish community throughout its history.
The 1930 U.S. census showed 2,084 Jewish Russians in Omaha, many of whom were first-generation immigrants who had fled religious persecution in the Russian Empire (including Ukraine). In 1929 a Conservative congregation began holding services at the Jewish Community Center on 20th and Dodge Streets. Beth El bought land for its cemetery in 1927. In 1935 the group named itself the Beth El Congregation. During Hanukkah in 1941, they dedicated a new synagogue facing 49th Avenue at Farnam Street. After fifty years of almost continuous growth, Beth El dedicated a new synagogue in 1991 at 14506 California Street in West Omaha, a more suburban location, where most of their congregants had migrated over the years to get newer housing.
Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol Cemetery is in Sarpy County
, next to Hrabik Cemetery and the Bnai Abraham Cemetery. Today all three are referred to as the Fisher Farm Cemetery
. They were originally established in 1883 by a now-defunct congregation called Bennea Israel.
Jewish businessmen created much of the commercial development in the Near North Side, especially the important North 24th Street corridor. After helping establish the prominence of the area before WWI, many Jewish merchants maintained their businesses even after the neighborhood was redline
d in the 1920s. Housing discrimination forced African-American residents to stay in the community, but especially after WWII, many descendants of other ethnicities moved from the area
to the western suburbs of Omaha to live in newer housing. Such suburban development was typical around growing cities in the postwar years.
Jewish businesses left North Omaha only in the late 1960s after their businesses were targeted and destroyed in urban riots. Most Jewish residents had already gradually moved to West Omaha and other neighborhoods.
In the early 1900s, Edward Rosewater
, a Bohemian Jew from Hungary, founded the Omaha Bee
and served as its editor. His strong stands sometimes stirred controversy. Notable Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
served Temple Israel from 1892-1898. Arthur J. Lelyveld, leader of the Hillel
organization and president of the Zionist Organization of America
, was a rabbi in Omaha for several years.
Born in North Omaha, Tillie Olsen
was a worker and labor organizer in the 1930s in the meatpacking industry, helping organize the United Packinghouse Workers of America
in the South Omaha stockyards and packinghouses. She was much influenced by her parents' Jewish socialist community in North Omaha, and was an activist all her life. Later Olsen began to publish her writings (after her move to California). She became an influential feminist author and served as writer-in-residence at several universities.
By the mid-20th century, Jewish people achieved formal elective office in Omaha. Edward Zorinsky
was elected mayor of Omaha and served from 1973-1976. After that he was elected United States Senator from 1976 to 1987.
Henry Monsky was a B'nai B'rith leader from Omaha. Aleph Zadik Aleph
, the men's Order of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, began in Omaha in 1923 as a college fraternity
.
Additional notable Jewish Americans from Omaha:
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
goes back to the mid-1850s.
The Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
community in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
has made significant cultural, economic and social contributions to the city. The first Jewish settlers came to the city shortly after it was founded in 1856. The most numerous Jewish immigrants were from eastern Europe and the Russian Empire. They arrived in four waves of immigration to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Immigrants were active in working class and socialist politics, especially during the 1920s and 1930s. Others established themselves as merchants and businessmen in the city. The Jewish community supported philanthropy and created important cultural and charitable institutions. Born to socialist parents in Omaha, renowned Jewish feminist author Tillie Olsen
Tillie Olsen
Tillie Lerner Olsen was an American writer associated with the political turmoil of the 1930s and the first generation of American feminists.-Biography:...
worked when she was young in the meatpacking plants and helped organize unions. The Jewish youth organization Aleph Zadik Aleph
Aleph Zadik Aleph
The Grand Order of the Aleph Zadik Aleph is an international youth-led fraternal organization for Jewish teenagers, founded in 1924 and currently existing as the male wing of BBYO Inc., an independent non-profit organization...
was established by immigrants in Omaha.
Today there are many Jewish families who have lived in Omaha for four generations. These families have followed the expansion of the city to the west, with the center of their residential areas and synagogues having moved from Downtown Omaha
Downtown Omaha
Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, and is located in Omaha, Nebraska. The boundaries are 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline of Leavenworth Street on the south to the centerline...
and the Near North Side
Near North Side (Omaha, Nebraska)
The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area...
to the West Omaha suburbs. New Jewish immigrants have come to the city from Russia and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
since the 1980s. Historically Omaha served as a point of migration for Jewish Americans who moved on to other cities. Today people from across the country can recall Omaha in their family histories.
Pre-1900
In 1856, the first Jewish settlers, mostly merchants and businessmen, arrived in Omaha. From the beginning, leaders of Orthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
and Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
worked to create strong congregations. In January 1871, Temple Israel was founded as the first Jewish congregation in Nebraska. Immediately afterwards, the congregation formed a burial society and established the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in order to provide ritual services to the city's Jewish community. The first confirmation
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
service was held in 1872, and the congregation was incorporated with the city of Omaha in 1873.
In 1884 the congregation dedicated the first synagogue in Omaha at 23rd and Harney Streets. Later in the century Eastern European Jews immigrated to the city. In 1886, an Edict of Expulsion
Edict of Expulsion
In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. Lasting for the rest of the Middle Ages, it would be over 350 years until it was formally overturned in 1656...
was enforced against the Jews of Kiev, which led many to migrate from the Ukraine to the United States. Omaha became home to hundreds, as they settled in the older neighborhoods of the city.
By 1890 the federal census recorded 1,035 Jews in Omaha. In 1892, Temple Israel invited the newly ordained Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
Leo M. Franklin
Leo Morris Franklin was an influential rabbi from Detroit, who headed that city's Temple Beth El from 1899 to 1941.- Early life :...
, a recent graduate of Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
, to become their rabbi. Franklin immediately set about spurring changes aimed at strengthening Reform Judaism in the congregation, such as the adoption of the Union Prayer Book
Union Prayer Book
The Union Prayer Book was a siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States.-History:...
and the ritual recently endorsed by the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
. Franklin also pushed to increase the Building Fund, slated for the construction of a new and larger Temple for the Congregation. As time passed, Franklin gained a reputation as an eloquent and idealistic preacher. He won prominent admirers among Omaha's Christian community as well, such as William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
.
Franklin was active in work outside the Omaha congregation. He established a Reform congregation, B'nai Yeshurun, in Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
; helped found the first normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
in Nebraska for the training of religious teachers; served as the editor of the Omaha Humane Society
Humane Society
A humane society may be a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons, although in many countries, it is now used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals...
's publication, and lectured in other cities (most notably Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....
). In 1896, the congregation elected Franklin to another five-year term as rabbi. Franklin's prominence led to an invitation to speak in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1898. He was immediately offered the rabbinate at that city's Temple Beth El
Temple Beth El (Detroit, Michigan)
Temple Beth El, also known as Temple Beth-El, is a Reform synagogue currently located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Beth El was founded in 1850 in the city of Detroit, and is the oldest Jewish congregation in Michigan....
. Franklin accepted Beth El's offer, leaving Omaha in January, 1899. After his departure, Franklin remained in contact with his former Omaha congregation, and participated closely with planning and building of Temple Israel's new Temple, completed in 1908.
1900-2000
In the early 20th century, Anshe Sholom was a Hungarian congregation located in the Near North SideNear North Side (Omaha, Nebraska)
The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area...
neighborhood, along with B'nai Jacob, a Conservative congregation. As generations of congregants passed on or moved out of the neighborhood, both congregations closed. Their cemeteries are next to that of Temple Israel on Pleasant Hill.
The J. L. Brandeis and Sons Store Building
J. L. Brandeis and Sons Store Building
The J. L. Brandeis and Sons Store Building is located at 210 South 16th Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. It was the headquarters location of the Brandeis Department Store chain. It currently holds apartments and condos...
was opened by Brandeis, a notable member of Omaha's Jewish community, in 1906. Wise Memorial Hospital, named in honor of Rabbi Joseph M. Wise, was located at 406 South 24th Street on a lot donated by Brandeis's wife. Built in 1912 for $125,000, between 1912 and 1917 the hospital treated more than 1,000 patients. In 1930 the institution closed.
The Jewish Press began publication in 1920; it is still being published, and Omaha has the distinction of being the smallest community in the United States that is able to produce a weekly Jewish publication. In 1924 Omaha's Jewish community celebrated opening its own exclusive country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
in response to policies at established country clubs which excluded Jews. While social practices changed in the city among both Christian and Jewish Americans, Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
was one of the first non-Jewish members at Highland. He joined the club in the 1980s to promote anti-discrimination. The Highland Country Club at Pacific and 132nd Streets was renamed Iron Wood in 2000. It no longer specifies Jewish-only membership, just as most other country clubs no longer exclude Jewish Americans or other minorities. The Omaha Jewish Community Center
Omaha Jewish Community Center
The Jewish Community Center in Omaha, Nebraska was established in 1926, and moved to its present location at 333 South 132nd Street in 1973. The original JCC was the site of important labor organizing in the city, and has continued to serve as an important center for financial support in Omaha's...
was founded two years after the country club, in 1926. The JCC moved to its present location at 333 South 132nd Street in 1973. The original JCC was the site of important labor organizing in the city, and has continued to serve as an important center for financial support in Omaha's Jewish community throughout its history.
The 1930 U.S. census showed 2,084 Jewish Russians in Omaha, many of whom were first-generation immigrants who had fled religious persecution in the Russian Empire (including Ukraine). In 1929 a Conservative congregation began holding services at the Jewish Community Center on 20th and Dodge Streets. Beth El bought land for its cemetery in 1927. In 1935 the group named itself the Beth El Congregation. During Hanukkah in 1941, they dedicated a new synagogue facing 49th Avenue at Farnam Street. After fifty years of almost continuous growth, Beth El dedicated a new synagogue in 1991 at 14506 California Street in West Omaha, a more suburban location, where most of their congregants had migrated over the years to get newer housing.
Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol Cemetery is in Sarpy County
Sarpy County, Nebraska
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 122,595 people, 43,426 households, and 33,220 families residing in the county. The population density was 510 people per square mile . There were 44,981 housing units at an average density of 187 per square mile...
, next to Hrabik Cemetery and the Bnai Abraham Cemetery. Today all three are referred to as the Fisher Farm Cemetery
Fisher Farm Cemetery
Fisher Farm Cemetery, including the B'nai Abraham Cemetery, the Hrabik Cemetery, the Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol Cemetery Fisher Farm Cemetery, including the B'nai Abraham Cemetery, the Hrabik Cemetery, the Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol Cemetery Fisher Farm Cemetery, including the B'nai Abraham Cemetery, the...
. They were originally established in 1883 by a now-defunct congregation called Bennea Israel.
Jewish businessmen created much of the commercial development in the Near North Side, especially the important North 24th Street corridor. After helping establish the prominence of the area before WWI, many Jewish merchants maintained their businesses even after the neighborhood was redline
Redline
Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine...
d in the 1920s. Housing discrimination forced African-American residents to stay in the community, but especially after WWII, many descendants of other ethnicities moved from the area
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
to the western suburbs of Omaha to live in newer housing. Such suburban development was typical around growing cities in the postwar years.
Jewish businesses left North Omaha only in the late 1960s after their businesses were targeted and destroyed in urban riots. Most Jewish residents had already gradually moved to West Omaha and other neighborhoods.
Notable Jewish Omahans
Aaron Cahn was a prominent Jewish member in the Omaha community who served in the first Nebraska State Legislature. His family were among the first Jewish settlers in Omaha.In the early 1900s, Edward Rosewater
Edward Rosewater
Edward Rosewater, born Edward Rosenwasser, was a Republican Party politician and newspaper editor in Omaha, Nebraska...
, a Bohemian Jew from Hungary, founded the Omaha Bee
Omaha Bee
The Omaha Bee was a pioneer newspaper in Omaha, Nebraska founded on May 8, 1871, by Edward Rosewater, a Bohemian Jewish immigrant who supported abolition and fought in the Union Army. The Bee was regarded as a Republican newspaper, and early on featured Rosewater's opinions...
and served as its editor. His strong stands sometimes stirred controversy. Notable Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
Leo M. Franklin
Leo Morris Franklin was an influential rabbi from Detroit, who headed that city's Temple Beth El from 1899 to 1941.- Early life :...
served Temple Israel from 1892-1898. Arthur J. Lelyveld, leader of the Hillel
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally...
organization and president of the Zionist Organization of America
Zionist Organization of America
The Zionist Organization of America , founded in 1897, was one of the first official Zionist organizations in the United States, and, especially early in the 20th century, the primary representative of Jewish Americans to the World Zionist Organization, espousing primarily Political Zionism.Today,...
, was a rabbi in Omaha for several years.
Born in North Omaha, Tillie Olsen
Tillie Olsen
Tillie Lerner Olsen was an American writer associated with the political turmoil of the 1930s and the first generation of American feminists.-Biography:...
was a worker and labor organizer in the 1930s in the meatpacking industry, helping organize the United Packinghouse Workers of America
United Packinghouse Workers of America
The United Packinghouse Workers of America , later the United Packinghouse, Food and Allied Workers, was a labor union that represented workers in the meatpacking industry....
in the South Omaha stockyards and packinghouses. She was much influenced by her parents' Jewish socialist community in North Omaha, and was an activist all her life. Later Olsen began to publish her writings (after her move to California). She became an influential feminist author and served as writer-in-residence at several universities.
By the mid-20th century, Jewish people achieved formal elective office in Omaha. Edward Zorinsky
Edward Zorinsky
Edward Zorinsky was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Nebraska, serving from 1976 until his death.- Early life :...
was elected mayor of Omaha and served from 1973-1976. After that he was elected United States Senator from 1976 to 1987.
Henry Monsky was a B'nai B'rith leader from Omaha. Aleph Zadik Aleph
Aleph Zadik Aleph
The Grand Order of the Aleph Zadik Aleph is an international youth-led fraternal organization for Jewish teenagers, founded in 1924 and currently existing as the male wing of BBYO Inc., an independent non-profit organization...
, the men's Order of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, began in Omaha in 1923 as a college fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
.
Additional notable Jewish Americans from Omaha:
- Max Baer (1909-1959) - World Boxing Champion
- Marti EpsteinMarti EpsteinMarti Epstein began composition studies in 1977 while still in high school with Professor Robert Beadell at the University of Nebraska. She earned degrees from the University of Colorado and Boston University...
(1959) - Musician/Composer - Zvi Hirsch GrodzinskyZvi Hirsch GrodzinskyRabbi Zvi Hirsch Grodzinsky was an American, Jewish, Orthodox Rabbi and author.Zvi Hirsch studied under his famous second cousin Rabbi Hayyim Ozer Grodzinsky. In 1891, he accepted the rabbinate of the two Orthodox synagogues in Omaha. Zvi Hirsch was on par with the elite Jewish Law scholars of his...
(1857-?) - Rabbi - Michael IvinsMichael IvinsMichael Lee Ivins is the bassist and one of the founding members of The Flaming Lips.Along with Mark Coyne and Wayne Coyne, he formed The Flaming Lips in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. According to Wayne, Michael was found as the bassist for the band because of his punk-rock look, and not...
(1963) - Bassist - Saul KripkeSaul KripkeSaul Aaron Kripke is an American philosopher and logician. He is a professor emeritus at Princeton and teaches as a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center...
(1947) - Philosopher and logician - Bryan GreenbergBryan GreenbergBryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
(1978) - Actor - Lawrence KleinLawrence KleinLawrence Robert Klein is an American economist. For his work in creating computer models to forecast economic trends in the field of econometrics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1980...
(1920) - Economist - Louis WirthLouis WirthLouis Wirth was an American sociologist and member of the Chicago school of sociology.-Life:Louis Wirth was born in the small village of Gemünden in the Hunsrück, Germany. He was one of seven children born to Rosalie Lorig and Joseph Wirth. Gemünden was a pastoral community, and Joseph Wirth...
(1897-1952) - Sociologist - Brian TeacherBrian TeacherBrian David Teacher is a 6' 3" right handed American former professional male tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking World No. 7 in 1981....
(1954) - Tennis player - Rose Blumkin (1893 - 1998) - Founder of the Nebraska Furniture Mart
- Hannah LogasaHannah LogasaHannah Logasa is considered the pioneer of school libraries. Logasa is credited with identifying the necessity of libraries in school and worked to achieve strong interaction between the library, students, and teachers at the University of Chicago Laboratory High School.-Early life:Hannah Logasa...
(1879 - 1967) - Librarian and author
Synagogues
| Synagogues in Omaha | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Affiliation | Address | Link |
| B'nai Israel Synagogue (Unaffiliated) | Unaffiliated | 618 Mynster Street, Council Bluffs Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across... |
|
| Beth El Synagogue | Conservative | 14506 California Street | link |
| Beth Israel Synagogue | Orthodox | 12604 Pacific Street | link |
| Beyt Shalom | Reconstructionist | 3012 South 119th Street | |
| Capehart Chapel | Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S... |
||
| Chabad House | Chabad-Lubavitch | 1866 South 120th Street | link |
| Herbert Goldsten Chapel, Rose Blumkin Jewish Home | 323 South 132nd Street | ||
| Temple Israel Synagogue | Reform | 7023 Cass Street | link |
Cemeteries
| Jewish cemeteries in Omaha | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Address | Established | Notes |
| Beth El Synagogue Cemetery | 4700 South 84th Street | The land for this cemetery was bought in 1927. | |
| Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetery | 8600 South 42 Street, Bellevue Bellevue, Nebraska Bellevue is a city in Sarpy County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 50,137 at the 2010 census. Eight miles south of Omaha, Bellevue is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Originally settled in the 1830s, It was the first state capitol. Bellevue was incorporated in... |
1901 | Abbreviated to B.H.H. |
| Golden Hill Cemetery | 5025 North 42nd Street | 1888 | |
| Hrabik Cemetery | 8600 South 42 Street, Bellevue | ||
| Mount Sinai Cemetery | 8600 South 42 Street, Bellevue | ||
| Oak Hills Cemetery | Council Bluffs | ||
| Pleasant Hill Cemetery | 6412 North 42 Street | 1871 | |
See also
- List of churches in Omaha
- List of cemeteries in Omaha