Congregation Beth Torah’s Weiner Religious School (WRS) has a new mascot this year.
Dov the bear spends Sunday mornings involved with religious school students, but during the week, he lives with a different WRS family. The host families make sure Dov participates in Jewish activities to keep them all entertained. They might listen to bedtime prayers, sing some Jewish songs or read books, enjoy Shabbat dinner with the family, or even help bake a challah. Dov carries a special diary, and the families help record their experiences to capture Jewish family life in the home.
Near the end of the school’s Family Tefilah Worship each Sunday, the host family shares their adventures with Dov. They may describe their activities or read from the log. At the conclusion of worship, a new family is chosen to be the host for the week, and Dov’s journey continues, just like the students in the WRS.
The students and parents have enjoyed having this special guest with them, and they strive to provide Dov with rich Jewish experiences — either longtime family traditions or new rituals they can create together.
The “Prayer Bear” actually came alive several years ago at WRS and is making a comeback, along with the school itself. Bringing in long-time Jewish educator and admin staff Sara Glass, along with a team of educators led by past and long-standing Religious School Director Marcia Rittmaster — as well as the Talmud Torah committee — Beth Torah has a new school curriculum and a renewed “sense of vitality” coming from its community. The building has had activities for all age groups, and momentum is building.
Glass returns to Kansas City after working in San Francisco for the past 10 years, where she was the assistant education director at Conservative synagogue Congregation Kol Shofar. She continued on to be the private events manager of the JCCSF, working large-scale event booking and production. Most recently, she served as the education administrative support for the reform congregation Sherith Israel, supporting their religious school, overseeing the b’nei mitzvah program and the preschool, and providing other programming support to the head rabbis and executive director.
Glass is from Overland Park, Kansas, originally, having grown up at Beth Torah, becoming a bat mitzvah there, and then working at Beth Torah as the communications associate for almost 10 years prior to moving to the West Coast. She is thrilled to be back in her home community doing work with many familiar faces as well as new families.
“When I first received my journalism degree in marketing and strategic communications from KU in 2007 and asked myself what I wanted to do with my career, I remember thinking that if I were going to use these powers (of journalism and marketing) for good, it would have to be for an organization like my synagogue or a nonprofit I could really get behind and support whole-heartedly,” she said. “So when my father, Norman, suggested I apply for the communications role at Beth Torah right out of college and I landed the job, I knew I was right at home. It was an honor to work with Rabbi Levin, Rabbi Harris, Rabbi Reice, Rabbi Shapiro, Aaron Nielsensultz, Cantor Finn, Laura Intfen, Jack Feldman, and of course, Marcia Rittmaster, among other staff and lay leaders, all of whom I admired greatly and learned so much from. Now is our opportunity to take all the tools in our toolkit and keep paying it forward, following in the footsteps of so many gifted educators who came before and taught me so much.”
Coming up, Beth Torah has a full calendar of programs and learning opportunities for youth and families of all ages. Those interested can visit the website calendar at www.beth-torah.org or call Glass in the office with questions (913) 498-2212 x1003.
