The Jewish Community Center in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

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 Jewish community throughout its history. Today the JCC is the site of a

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

memorial that is unique in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. In 2008 teams from the United States Olympic Trials practiced at the JCC before partaking in the official trials in downtown Omaha.

History

When it originally opened in June 1926 at 20th and

Dodge Street Dodge Street is the main east–west street in Omaha, Nebraska. Numbered as U.S. Route 6 (US 6), the street starts in Downtown Omaha and connects to West Dodge Road just west of 78th Street. From there, it continues westward through the ...

s in

Downtown Omaha Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline ...

the JCC had a library, gymnasium, auditorium and

Talmud Torah Talmud Torah ( he, תלמוד תורה, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary educ ...

. The purpose of housing a wide variety of cultural, social, recreational, and other activities for the area's Jewish population. Jews from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and other

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

countries participated in a variety of Jewish cultural activities at the JCC; however, they did not celebrate their own national cultures, further attributing to

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural ass ...

. In 1931 the JCC merged with the Omaha Welfare Federation and the Omaha Jewish Philanthropies, with the new name of The Jewish Community Center and Welfare Federation. The Jewish Community Forum featuring renowned guest speakers, the Jewish Youth Council dedicated to

youth development Positive youth development (PYD) programs are designed to optimize youth developmental progress. ''Youth.gov'' states that "PYD is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, ...

and the Philanthropies Campaign, which has administered the collection of funds for numerous Jewish causes, were all located at the JCC. The Center moved to

West Omaha West Omaha is a geographic area of Omaha, Nebraska, that comprises all points within the Omaha metropolitan area Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern Un ...

in 1973, influencing "a substantial amount of secondary real estate selections" as families and synagogues moved west.

Activities

Today the organization continues its active program as "an institution which houses all forms of Jewish activity and which brings to its doors men, women, and children for the enrichment of their personality and for the growth of their Jewish life." The Omaha Jewish Community Center houses a number of programs and organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Omaha, the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, the ''Jewish Press'', the Center for Jewish Education, the Dan and Esther Gordman Center for Jewish Learning, the Institute for Holocaust Education, and the ADL/CRC. Facilities at the JCC include the Friedel Jewish Academy, theatre, art gallery space, dance and music studios, meeting rooms and classrooms, the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, the Herbert Goldsten Synagogue and Livingston Plaza Apartments. There is an indoor pool and outdoor aquatic center, baseball, soccer, basketball, and handball facilities, two indoor running tracks, men's and women's health clubs, and a health and fitness center.Pollak, O.B. (2001) ''Images of America: Jewish life in Omaha and Lincoln.'' Arcadia Publishing. p 4.

Nebraska Jewish Historical Society

The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society is located at the Omaha Jewish Community Center. Permanent exhibits include “Jewish Landmarks,” “Our Story” and “From Generation to Generation”, and there are changing exhibits in the main gallery. The Society also features archives of local Jewish history. The Henry and Dorothy Riekes Museum features a representation of a neighborhood

shul A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worsh ...

References

External links

Omaha Jewish Community Center
official website
Friedel Jewish Academy

Jewish Federation of Omaha

Nebraska Jewish Historical Society
{{Coord, 41, 15, 24, N, 96, 07, 01, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-NE 1926 establishments in Nebraska Jews and Judaism in Omaha, Nebraska Religious buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Jewish-American history Museums in Omaha, Nebraska Community centers in Nebraska Jewish museums in the United States Ethnic museums in Nebraska Jewish Community Centers in the United States

History

Activities

Nebraska Jewish Historical Society

See also

References

External links