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St. Joseph's new synagogue, Beit Echad, marks a new chapter for the city's Jewish community and history.

On Dec. 1, community members gathered in the social hall at The J to hear from Irene Shavit, an Oct. 7 terror attack survivor from the kibbutz Kfar Aza.

St. Joseph, Missouri, has a Jewish history stretching back more than 150 years, and two main synagogues, Temple Adath Joseph and Temple B’nai Sholem. Now, the two congregations have worked together to form Beit Echad, the first new synagogue in the city in more than a century.

Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City will honor community members at its 2024 annual meeting, which will also feature speakers including the University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas A. Girod; Kansas City, Missouri, City Manager Brian Platt; and Overland Park, Kansas, Police Department Deputy Chief of Police Simon Happer.

Nearly 30 years after Kansas City first hosted the JCC Maccabi Games, organizers have announced that the largest organized Jewish sports event in North America will return to Kansas City in 2026.

Jewish advocate David Harris will be participating in a discussion at a community program titled, “An Urgent Call to Action: In Conversation with David Harris.”

A Jewish Kansas City native is among the biggest movers and shakers in Hollywood, working on the “Iron Man,” “Ghostbusters,” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises while getting to know film icons like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.

Barry Birkmeyer, longtime manager of The J’s camp and school-age services department, has been promoted to the program’s new director.

Friends Ethan Hobbs and David Wasserman have turned their shared passion for video production and photography into Mitzvah Memories, a media company serving the Kansas City Jewish community.

Over the past few years, a combination of the pandemic and changing needs in the local Jewish community inspired the Kansas City Community Kollel’s board to develop a new vision and strategy.