Addressing the community during Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s recent virtual annual meeting, Helene Lotman, Federation president and CEO, described 2020 as a year of learning.
As part of last week’s celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, noted local history writer Brian Burnes recounted six visits the civil rights leader made to Kansas City. The story first appeared in the Jackson County Historical Society‘s E-Journal and was then republished on Flatland, the digital magazine for Kansas City PBS. The following is Burnes’ account of a 1961 visit to B’nai Jehudah.
Rabbi Nati and Sarah Stern welcomed Ephraim Simcha into the world at 8:58 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Rabbi Stern, who is the Kansas City director of NCSY and JSU, said he’s “very excited” to have had the first Jewish baby in the greater Kansas City area in 2021.
Over 300 individuals were in attendance for the community virtual Hanukkah celebration last month. In place of regular religious school classes at each congregation, families including religious school students, parents and grandparents joined together to enjoy a unique and engaging virtual community Hanukkah educational experience featuring the Bible Players, a Torah comedy team based in New York City. Through comedy and improvisation, the group presented the “Festival of Lights” — the story of Milton the Menorah, an insecure menorah who finds the spirit (ruach) and light to shine.
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In the sixth of Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s Community Conversation series, Jessica Rockhold, executive director of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, shared more details about MCHE’s partnership with Union Station and the upcoming exhibition “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.”
What’s on the minds of students at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy? Lots of stuff, as indicated by the excerpts below from recent stories in RampageWired, the online student publication. To see the full articles, and more content, go to (https://www.rampagewired.com/).
How representations of the Holocaust may be disappearing
If you’re curious about how and why we represent and remember the Holocaust through certain icons, consider attending “Icons of the Holocaust” by Professor Oren Stier, a Jewish studies scholar at Florida International University in Miami.
The pandemic has added yet another layer of stress facing our teens. Now Jewish Family Services’ YouBeYou program is offering additional resources online to help teens struggling with mental health issues.
