By Lacey Storer
Contributing Writer
When Sarah Hurwitz signed up for an introduction to Judaism class at the age of 36 — after growing up with the Jewish experience of “dull services at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and a dull seder” — she had few, if any, expectations. The then-chief speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama took the class merely to fill time after a breakup and wasn’t looking for any kind of spiritual awakening.
The Park University Alumni Association has awarded it’s Torchlighter Award to Blanche Sosland, Ph.D., a Kansas City, Missouri, resident. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony was held virtually on Sept. 17.
Kansas City artist, Gerry Trilling, debuts a new body of work entitled “Memory Ponds: Crocheting by the Light of Netflix” at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph, Missouri, from Sept. 25 – Nov. 8. “Memory Ponds” marks Trilling’s first solo museum exhibition and is a departure from her previous work. More than 150 unique crocheted “drawings” will be exhibited, from palm-sized to room-sized works. The exhibition opens to the public Friday, Sept. 25, from 4 to 7 p.m.
The Sarah Peltzman Educational Series, Unit One, begins Thursday, Oct. 15. Classes will be held 10-11 a.m. via Zoom. The cost is $15 per unit or $36 for all three units. The fee for couples is $40 and includes all three units.
The Beth Shalom Sisterhood Gift Shop won’t be able to open the shop permanently until after Dec. 31, unless COVID-19 is still a problem.
If you have any immediate needs (Shabbat candles, mezuzahs and scrolls, other basic needs or gifts), call Mary Weiner at 913-642-9363. She will call Stefanie Williams, executive director, to set up an appointment.
In the meantime, Connie Simon has been working on setting up a website for the gift shop. Sisterhood will then photograph items in the shop for you to peruse. Sisterhood has already set up an online program for members to pay their dues and it works well.
Have you planned your menu for Shabbat/Sukkot dinner? Erev Sukkot begins at sundown Friday, Oct. 2. Skip the meal preparation and enjoy a delicious catered meal in your sukkah. This holiday meal will be prepared by Cathy Levin, Kosher Connection. Deadline for ordering your Shabbat/Sukkot meal is Tuesday, Sept. 29. Curbside pickup is from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2.
KU Hillel’s Rock Chalk Shabbat is now coast-to-coast. For the 19th year of Rock Chalk Shabbat, the largest Shabbat experience at KU, KU Hillel has innovated to a completely virtual event. The best part? You can enjoy the fun of Rock Chalk Shabbat from the comfort of your living room.
It’s been a tough summer for area kids with so many restrictions due to the pandemic, but five members of the Jewish Boy Scout Troop 61 decided to make the best of it — and indeed, they did.
Union Station, MCHE partner to host international exhibition in K.C.
Union Station will host one of the most comprehensive Holocaust exhibitions about Auschwitz ever exhibited in North America, “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” The exhibition is being brought to Kansas City in partnership with the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE) and will open in June 2021. MCHE will host a series of public and educational programming that will feature experts on the Holocaust and be available through the exhibition.
By Jane Martin
Special to The Chronicle
Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy is off to a great start for the school year, using its cyclical learning model. In their first week back at school, all HBHA students, K-12, engaged in virtual-only learning, followed by a week of in-person learning during Labor Day week. This week they are back in their virtual classrooms, and, if Johnson County COVID numbers remain steady, the plan is to continue alternating in-person and virtual weeks for the foreseeable future.
