Every year on Dec. 24 about 200 young Jewish people in their 20s, 30s and 40s gather at a hot nightspot in the city to renew friendships and have an evening of good cheer. It’s not a singles event — couples and singles regularly attend — yet every now and then the relationship angels manage to bring two people together. That’s exactly what happened with Leah Karchin and Justin Unell at Bagel Bash 2009.

Karchin was determined she wasn’t going to miss Bagel Bash that year. A year earlier she had moved to the area as a student at the University of Kansas’ Edwards Campus in Overland Park working toward a master’s degree in special education with an emphasis in autism. When she returned from a winter break visit with her family in Grosse Pointe, Mich., she heard about the great party she had missed on Dec. 24.

“People just raved about it,” Karchin said.

During the previous year she had met many of these people at other events sponsored for young adults by the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. She loved attending these events.

“There was no Jewish population where I was from and I thought it was a great way to make friends,” she said in a recent interview.

By the time the party rolled around the next year, Karchin made plans to attend.

“I told my mom I still wanted to come home and visit, but I wanted to come a little later so I could go to Bagel Bash,” she said.

Karchin, who earned that master’s degree she moved to town for, is now the instructor in Blue Valley’s Center for Advanced Professional Studies Interaction design program (a field that combines creativity with technology, marketing and advertising). She looked forward to the evening as simply a girls’ night out with friends. It really wasn’t a top priority for her to scope out the available Jewish men.

However just the opposite was true for Unell. He had been to Bagel Bash before and enjoyed seeing old and new friends there. But now he was at a time in his life when he was ready, and even hoping, to meet a nice Jewish woman. On this night he noticed Karchin.

“This guy just walked up to me,” said the 29-year-old Karchin. “He was very brave.”

“He works in TV and I really didn’t know anything about TV, but we talked about it for a while. Then he asked for my phone number. Guys don’t do that anymore. I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but I said sure and gave it to him because he was really nice.”

Fast forward four years to today and the couple is making plans to attend yet another Bagel Bash. Now engaged, they plan to marry in 2013. Karchin said she also has a great story to tell people.

“Jewish people go out for Chinese food and see a movie on Christmas Eve, but it’s a whole different story for non-Jewish people. So when I tell people I met Justin at a party on Christmas Eve, it sounds magical to them,” Karchin said.

For those who like romantic stories, this story is indeed magical. Unell, 32, grew up in Kansas City and works as a planning editor for 41 Action News. He liked Karchin and called her the very next day after meeting her. Since Karchin was out of town, it took another week or so before they actually got together.

After speaking with Karchin at the party and on the phone, he discovered she had been a competitive figure skater who was a member of the U.S. National Synchronized Skating Team as well as a member of the synchronized skating team at Michigan State University. So he suggested they go skating at Crown Center.

“I had never figure-skated before. It was something my parents and my sister had done a few times, but I had never been interested before,” Unell said.

Karchin, who is also a skating coach, was running late from practice and worried she would make a bad impression on Unell, but said the date went off without a glitch and, she said, was really fun.

“I do remember holding hands while we were skating. I thought it was romantic at the time but it could have been that he needed a little skating help. But he’s a lot better at skating that I am at golf,” said Karchin, referring to one of Unell’s favorite hobbies.

The date continued at Fritz’s restaurant in Crown Center, where they had burgers and shakes delivered by the restaurant’s overhead train system.

“He paid, something guys don’t do much anymore either. I had fun and definitely thought he was impressive,” she said.

She thought it was the perfect date. He wasn’t so sure because the date was over by 8 p.m. Unell later learned Karchin was simply exhausted after a long day of coaching.

As Karchin explains, the rest is history. But becoming a couple didn’t happen overnight and took some planning. For example, they had completely opposite schedules. She worked from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily plus her coaching duties. He generally worked 2 to 11 p.m. at the TV station.

Not one to rush things Unell decided this summer, after dating for three and a half years, that it was time to propose. Just as he did when he took Karchin skating that first time, he stepped outside of his comfort zone to do it.

“We took a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which is wild for me because I’m a lower 48 kind of guy. I got this romantic package where we got a picnic for two on a private beach. Leah was surprised and we had an amazing lunch on a gorgeous day,” he said.

“I got down on one knee and said will you marry me. I had the ring with me,” he said. “She was crying and emotional and said yes. Then of course she couldn’t eat. But we had a few days left on the trip and continued to have a great vacation.”

Because Bagel Bash has special meaning to them, they haven’t missed one since they met. And they plan to keep it on their list of things to do for years to come.

Bagel Bash to be held Dec. 24

Bagel Bash, tagged as the place to meet new people and to reconnect with old friends, takes place at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24, at Gusto Lounge, 504 Westport Road in Kansas City, Mo. The event is for Jewish adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s. No one under 21 will be admitted. For reservations or more information, call Nicole at 913-327-8111.

Members of the Bagel Bash Committee are Aaron Goldman, Greg Herman, Amy King, Dave Suroff and Alan Widman. The event is brought to you by the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City in cooperation with B’Not Or Hadassah; Chavarim on the Scene, Kehilath Israel Synagogue; Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner; Congregation Beth Shalom; Congregation Kol Ami; Friends Next Dor, Congregation Beth Torah; Jewish Community Center; JCRB|AJC; Jewish Federation’s Business & Professionals; Kehillah KC, The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah; New Reform Temple; and Congregation Ohev Sholom.

VISIT COCO KEY WATER RESORT — Once you read this, you won’t be able to get the CoCo Key Water Resort theme song out of your head (at least I couldn’t!). Torah Learning Center has teamed up with CoCo Key Water Resort to offer some winter break discounts. Visit tickets.cocokeykansascity.com and enter code name TLC to receive a buy one get one free offer. There is also a Holiday Bundle package of 10 passes for $10 each (a savings up to $150!). Torah Learning Center will receive a percentage of sales received via this offer (valid until May 31, 2013). CoCo Key is offering extended hours of operation during winter break, from Dec. 21 through Dec. 31. For more information, visit www.cocokeykansascity.com, call Greg Madden at 816-737-4775 or email .

THE LATKE DOUBLE DOWN — Here’s one to file away for next Chanukah. Last week NPR aired a story about a sandwich created by Rob Eshman and Jay Friedman of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles in 2010. It is patterned after the KFC Double Down: the sandwich that replaced bread with fried chicken. The Latke Double Down replaces the bread with latkes, aka fried potato pancakes. The print journalists used lox as their sandwich filling. The folks at NPR filled theirs with brisket. To get the recipe for the Latke Double Down and the story behind it, visit http://www.jewishjournal.com/foodaism/item/the_double_down_latke_sandwich_video_and_recipe_20101118. To hear the entire NPR story, visit http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/12/10/166878737/sandwich-monday-the-latke-double.

BASKETBALL PLAYER TO WEAR YARMULKE — My friend and loyal reader tipped me off to this story about a Jewish player for Northwestern University who plans to wear a yarmulke during games. In August JTA reported that Aaron Liberman of Los Angeles’ Valley Torah High School was joining the team as a non-scholarship walk-on this season. The 6-foot-10 forward/center, who is already being referred to as the “Jewish Dwight Howard,” spent a gap year after high school studying in Israel while he continued to practice basketball. He’s battling an injury and has not played this season and may be redshirted, meaning he will sit out the year and not lose a year of eligibility. When, or if, he does play, the school plans to provide the 215-pound forward/center with a purple and white yarmulke for home games and purple and black one for the road. Liberman also plans to wear tzitzit, a knotted fringe or tassel worn on the corners of garments, underneath his jersey, a Northwestern spokesperson confirmed.

Many of us have stuffed ourselves during the past several days on latkes and brisket and other delicacies as we celebrated Chanukah. Some of us in the Jewish community are not fortunate enough to feel full during this holiday, or any other day.

While the plight of the hungry has gotten a lot of press lately, it’s never enough. So several organizations — including the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and a variety of rabbinical and Jewish social justice organizations — organized the Jewish Community Food Stamp Challenge. The project asked participants to live for one week on the average food stamp allotment of $31.50 per person as a way to understand how difficult it is to be hungry and to demonstrate the Jewish community’s commitment to ending hunger.

Several people in the local Jewish community — including Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, Congregation Beth Torah’s Rabbi Mark Levin, JFS Executive Director Don Goldman and Rabbi Debbie Stiel of Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka — took the challenge. By doing so they put themselves on a welfare diet, seeing what it’s like to taste just a little bit of the life so many others have no choice but to lead.

The cold, hard facts

Statistics provided by JCPA note that one in six American households is struggling against hunger. Current economic turmoil and threats of severe cuts to government programs have left America’s hungry — already at historically high numbers — with little hope of relief. Recent studies by a number of agencies and organizations highlight this disturbing trend: between 2007 and 2009, the number of households struggling with hunger increased more than 33 percent with nearly one in four U.S. households with children unable to afford enough food. And the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the U.S. poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent in 2010, with one out of every six Americans, or 46.2 million, living in poverty.

Not surprisingly, with so many more in need, enrollment in federal food and nutrition programs is dramatically on the rise. In April 2012, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) participation rose to a record level of more than 46.2 million Americans — an increase of more than 1.5 million people compared with just one year before. But proposed cuts mean millions could be left without help.

The challenge

This is the second time that Rabbi Shuval-Weiner has chosen to eat for a week on $4.50 per day, or $1.50 per meal. That’s the average amount a SNAP participant received in 2010. This year she took the challenge in September, right before the High Holidays.

Rabbi Shuval-Weiner regularly preaches and advocates about hunger issues. But she felt it was important to actually make that sacrifice herself.

“To actually have to make that struggle I feel is a really important marker because people struggle with this every single day of their lives. For me to put myself back in that place, it was a contemplative act of re-engagement with something I feel very powerful about, which is anti-hunger advocacy,” she said.

Rabbi Levin discussed his plan to participate in the Food Stamp Challenge in a High Holiday sermon and took the challenge just before Thanksgiving. He said he had long wondered what it was like to be food insecure, the new phrase, which refers to people who have limited or uncertain access to adequate food. But until the challenge was laid, Rabbi Levin really didn’t know the best way to experience food insecurity.

By doing this, Rabbi Levin also wanted to show his support for the farm bill, which as of this writing was still hung up in Congress. The farm bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation, renewed approximately every five years, that covers a lot of issues including nutrition, food stamps and crop subsidies.

“I thought this is a very good idea to get people to sign on by saying they are willing to give up something. It’s not just a signature, it’s a commitment,” Rabbi Levin said, echoing JCPA’s statement that the Food Stamp Challenge sends “a strong message to our public officials that we need to support SNAP (food stamps) and help keep millions from hunger and poverty.”

The budget

Rabbi Shuval-Weiner and JFS’ Goldman, both vegetarians, learned quickly that it’s very hard to buy fresh fruits and vegetables on such a small budget.

“It’s like living in black and grey all the time when you have so little choice,” Rabbi Shuval-Weiner said. “For myself, I found myself eating a lot of starchy stuff. I actually gained weight. There’s only so much rice and potatoes and pasta one can eat.”

Rabbi Levin is not a vegetarian but chooses to eat little meat. By shopping smart that week he purchased what he characterized as a “filling cereal,” as well as chicken and vegetables which he made into a large pot of soup. If he ate lunch at all, it was a small piece of fruit.

“When I was buying groceries for that week I actually told the checkout guy about it. He looked at what I bought and said people who live on food stamps don’t buy fresh vegetables. I actually lived, I think, somewhat better in some respects than most people,” Rabbi Levin said.

For Goldman, the challenge highlighted how much he personally takes his food options for granted, noting that he often pays little attention to the cost of his food choices.

“But shopping for the challenge, I went off to Aldi with $22 in hand — my budget for five days, trying to figure out how to make this work. I got some bananas and splurged on mushrooms but couldn’t make any other fruit or vegetables work. I got some cheap cereal, pasta, peanut butter and bread and quickly used up my budget,” Goldman said.

He was never hungry during the week, but admits to being unsatisfied and a bit grumpy.

“I don’t think I ended up with a healthy or balanced diet. I could have planned better and probably made a healthier diet work, but that would have taken lots of planning and shopping at different stores, something most people on food stamps aren’t able to do,” Goldman said.

Rabbi Levin often talks to people when he’s out and about and he’s often seen how people struggle to make ends meet, with little time to themselves, let alone time to shop at many different places. He points to a recent conversation he had with a cashier at the market he frequents.

“I said it’s been a long day, I’ve been working for 12 hours and I’m going home,” he said. “This person said she started at 7 a.m., too, and was still working. You can’t eat right if you do that and it’s expensive,” Rabbi Levin said.

He knows of at least one member of Beth Torah who is food insecure, and one way the budget gets stretched is by preparing as much as food as possible and not buying convenience food.

“She makes beans in a crock pot. Most of us buy them already made before we use them. And certainly sweets are not in the budget at all,” he said.

More than nutrition

Rabbi Shuval-Weiner pointed out that food is not just about sustenance.

“It is what nurtures our hearts and our minds and our souls. In many ways it brings enjoyment to life. It brings a sense of connection to one another,” she said.

She said it is simply not possible on that little amount of money for people to put quality food with flavor on the table. While the Jewish community is “exceedingly generous” when it comes to food drives, she hopes people will be able to put more thought into what they donate to our local pantries.

“As we’re stocking our own food bank, we need to consider what the things are that we like to eat in our own homes,” she said.

She suggests people become more creative when they choose their food donations.

“What would you take over to your best friend if you were preparing a meal for them?” Rabbi Shuval-Weiner asked.

She would also like the JFS Food Pantry to become “a vibrant place where there’s fresh food and there’s high quality food, not just staples.” Individuals are not able to donate fresh foods to JFS just yet, (some is available through corporate donations and the Mitzvah Garden) but JFS’s Goldman said there are other things people can donate.

“They can buy more interesting items. For example, we see a great demand so far for canned salmon,” he said. “One woman was so excited to find a can of salmon and was thinking how she could stretch this to two meals for her family.”

When the challenge was over for Goldman, he was relieved that he could eat what he wanted.

“Real people on food stamps don’t get that kind of quick relief. And in fact, I spent more than my week’s budget at a lunch out with my daughter the next day. That’s something people who are on food stamps or visit our pantry don’t get to do,” he said.

When Hurricane Sandy’s floodwaters immersed the Five Towns of Nassau County, they rose four feet high in the sanctuary of Congregation Ahavas Yisroel and soaked the four Torahs in the synagogue’s Aron Ha-Kodesh (ark) making them posul — not kosher. A synagogue without usable Torahs is like a school without teachers. Something had to be done.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away here in Overland Park, Kehilath Israel Synagogue’s Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz meditated on the fact that for over a century his synagogue has built up a storehouse of 15 Torahs. Realizing that his shul had many more Torahs than it needed while other synagogues were now bereft, he turned to the Orthodox Union to help him find a synagogue that needed a spiritual uplift by receiving a Torah — permanently, and not as a loan.

As he explained while delivering the Torah in New York, Rabbi Yanklowitz said, “When you hear a cry from k’lal Yisroel and you ignore it, it leaves a void.”

“If a Torah sits in the aron and others need it, you must act. When we saw how many Sefer Torahs our shul had, I asked myself, ‘Who owns these Torahs?’At the end of the day, HaKodesh Baruch Hu owns everything. Nothing in a certain sense is truly our own. We can’t own a Torah in the deepest sense. We all own something that someone else needs.”

“Tonight,” he summed up, “we are celebrating the power of Torah.”

Rabbi Yanklowitz and his wife, Shoshana, personally delivered the Torah to its new congregation, flying it in from Kansas City to Newark, with a stop in St. Louis. That journey reflected Jewish life in America; and, much to their delight, Southwest Airlines provided a special compartment for the Torah so that it could journey comfortably to its new home.

“Walking in the airport in Kansas carrying the Torah wrapped in a tallit (prayer shawl), people looked at us like we were aliens,” Rabbi Yanklowitz related. “In St. Louis, maybe one or two people knew what it was. In Newark, everyone was kissing the Torah and dancing.”

An interesting side note to this is that neither of the two synagogues are Orthodox Union member congregations. To the OU it didn’t matter.

“They are doing good works,” OU President Dr. Simcha Katz declared. “That’s all that mattered.”

The celebration at the shul took on the atmosphere of a Simchat Torah service with vigorous dancing with the new Torah and the two loaners the shul had previously received.

“We’re getting this Torah because we lost ours,” said Rabbi Yissachar Blinder, the young spiritual leader of the synagogue. “Some of our families are not home yet. So that’s bitter. It hurts. But it is so sweet that a shul in Kansas City reaches out and shares something it has and that someone else needs and gives it to those who need it.”

When the curtain was raised on the Kansas City Ballet’s 40th annual production of “The Nutcracker” Dec. 1, audiences were treated to performances by several Jewish performers. At least five Jewish dancers are in the production, which has two casts for the young dancers. The Prince, one of the production’s major roles for students, is being played by Shawn Kramarovsky. Other Jewish performers include Stella Shapiro, siblings Greta and Oscar Miller and Natalie Goldman.

“The Nutcracker” runs through Dec. 23 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. For ticket information call 816-931-2233, or go to kcballet.org.

For those who are unfamiliar with the production, choreographed by the Kansas City Ballet’s Artistic Director Emeritus Todd Bolender, it features a memorable score by Tchaikovsky, takes place on Christmas Eve and tells the unforgettable story of Clara and her Nutcracker Prince as they journey to the Kingdom of the Sweets.

All of the young cast members are students at the Kansas City Ballet School and were chosen through an audition process.

The 225 students featured are an integral part of the ballet, and rehearse and perform alongside the professional company members.

At age 7, Natalie Goldman is perhaps the youngest member of this year’s cast and has been dancing since she was in preschool at the Jewish Community Center. Now in second grade, she excitedly announces that she is in 11 performances of the ballet. The daughter of Stuart and Lauren Goldman, members of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, she attends Stanley Elementary School. Ballet is her favorite activity.

This is the first year Natalie was eligible to audition, and she nabbed a role as one of Mother Ginger’s children. She emerges onstage from under the huge skirt of Mother Ginger.

Another “Nutcracker” novice is Stella Shapiro. The daughter of Kelly and Tony Shapiro, she recently began focusing on ballet after concentrating on gymnastics for many years. The 13-year-old eighth-grader  at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy plays a mouse and appears in two scenes. She is enjoying ballet.

“I love how it makes you feel beautiful and I like performing for people and making other people happy during it. It’s just really fun,” said Stella, who recently became a Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Beth Shalom.

Juggling school, rehearsals and performances, Stella said, is not as hard as people may think.

“When I did gymnastics I worked out about 30 hours every week and I still had to balance homework, so I’m used to it,” she said.

Participating in this production has been fun, Stella said.

“Even though it’s not the best part, like Clara or any other part, I think it’s the part that most people remember. It’s the funny part and I think a lot of people enjoy it,” she said.

Another HBHA student, Shawn Kramorovsky, hasn’t been dancing long either. The 12-year-old son of Tanya Kramarovsky was born in Israel, came to the United States nine years ago and began taking lessons two years ago. As one of the two boys who alternate playing the Prince, he has one of the biggest roles for a student in the production and appears in many scenes.

Shawn explains that throughout the production he dances “with Clara (the student lead) and escorts her to places and watches other dances.”

The sixth-grade student who belongs to Beth Shalom credits his early dancing success to good teachers at the KCBS, including Emily Simpson, the new director of the Kansas City Ballet, as well as Marcus Oatis. He’s also thrilled he gets to dance alongside the professionals.

“The company dancers help you and guide you along and mentor you during ‘The Nutcracker.’ Sometimes during a performance they will quietly whisper in your ear saying things like try this, do that. It helps a lot,” said Shawn, who has also enjoyed working with directors James Jordan and William Whitner.

He’s had a lot of fun the last few months.

“When we first got into rehearsals I was so nervous. It was the second year for the other prince and it was pretty challenging for me at first learning every bit of choreography and getting all the expressions and all the gestures right. But it has gotten easier,” Shawn said.

Siblings Oscar and Greta Miller have the most experience performing in “The Nutcracker.” Greta, an eighth-grade student at Indian Hills Middle School, has danced in six “Nutcrackers.” This year the 13-year-old plays a Trepak in the Russian ribbon candy dance. She continues to enjoy the experience.

“It’s really fun and it’s a cool thing to do, and it’s something special to perform with the professional company,” Greta said.

Greta believes “The Nutcracker” inspires young girls to become ballerinas.

“All the little girls go and see ‘The Nutcracker’ when they are about 4 or 5 and then they want to take ballet,” Greta said.

Greta, who has been dancing for 11 years, always looks forward to “The Nutcracker.”

“It’s one of the things I look forward to the most during the year because everyone is happy and it’s fun. You get to perform with your friends and the company members,” she said.

Greta and Oscar are the children of Robert and Kerry Miller and are members of Congregation Beth Torah. Oscar is 9 years old, attends fourth grade at Highlawn Montessori School and plays Clara’s brother Fritz in the production.

“I am one of the main parts in the first act,” he said.

This is the second year Oscar has played Fritz and the fourth year he’s been in the production. He said he’s been dancing so long, seven years, that “it’s just a part of life” for him now.

He likes dancing with the company and enjoys the production.

“I like it a lot because I’ve been doing it for a really long time. I get to break the nutcracker,” he said.

“It’s not all ballet, it’s acting too, and I like that,” Oscar concluded. In addition to “The Nutcracker,” Oscar performed in the Kansas City Ballet’s “Tom Sawyer” in 2011.

Sam Fine perfectly exemplifies the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Sam is the winner of the 16th annual Chanukah Art Contest sponsored by Chabad House Center and The Chronicle. Now a fifth-grade student at Prairie Star Elementary School, he’s entered the contest at least four times before winning this year’s grand prize — an iPad mini, complements of Chabad.

Mandy Unterhalter, a fourth-grade student at Congregation Beth Shalom, won the lower division (grades K-four) with a mosaic menorah titled, “Reflecting the Lights of Chanukah.” She is the 10-year-old daughter of Janet and Bryan Unterhalter and attends Leawood Elementary School.

Thirteen-year-old Ariel Brudoley, an eight-grader at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, won the upper division (grades five through eight) with his “The Victory Menorah.” He is the son of Sherri Jacobs and Dr. Jonathan Jacobs and is a member of Congregation BIAV. Mandy and Ariel will each receive an iTouch as their prize.

Rabbi Mendy Wineberg, Chabad House Center’s program director, said while there weren’t quite as many entries this year as there has been the past few years, he continues to be amazed by the amount of effort put into the creations.

“As usual we had a difficult time choosing the winners,” the rabbi said.

“Some entries reflected the beauty of the Chanukah lights, while others incorporated the Maccabee’s victory over the Greek army. One entry even incorporated today’s technology and connected it to the holiday. We wish we could give a grand prize to everyone who entered.”

Sam, the 11-year-old son of Congregation Beth Torah members Jill and Mike Fine, is really excited he won the contest.

“At first I didn’t think it was even real when the rabbi called,” Sam said. “Then I soon realized it was.”

Sam titled his creation “In the Window Shining So Bright.” On his entry form, he said his inspiration for the project was Rabbi Joseph R. Black’s song, which he thought about while making the project. The chorus that inspired him is: “In the window, shining so bright, I can see the Chanukah lights, And it gives me such a warm, friendly glow, When I think of Judah Maccabee, so long ago.”

Sam chose to create a menorah because “it’s the most recognizable symbol of Chanukah.” He originally wanted to create a project made of stained glass, but his mother thought since he hadn’t worked with that medium before it could be a little too complicated for this contest entry. So he decided to do a window art project, which also hangs in a window allowing sun to shine through the colors and looks a lot like the more sophisticated stained glass.

Sam began his project by purchasing an art kit and searching the internet for a picture of a menorah he liked. Then on a piece of glass, using thick black paint, he outlined the menorah on the glass. After the outline dried he used bright colors, including Chanukah blue and a yellow-gold for the flames, to complete the project. It took several days to make the menorah because the paint had to dry between each step for several hours.

Both Sam’s siblings had also entered the Chanukah Art Contest in the past. The family read about it in The Jewish Chronicle.

“I’m really glad I won,” said Sam, who will now own the family’s first iPad.

OUR JEWISH SECRET SANTA — For the last several years Elinor Friedman has been a generous donor for a Christmas party given every year at St. Mary’s Hot Lunch Kitchen, the very same place the volunteers at Congregation Beth Shalom have supported through its Lechem Project. In the past the party was organized by a Kansas City, Kan., police officer who also worked at St. Mary’s. The police officer passed away this year, but his widow is continuing the project in conjunction with the kitchen personnel. A little elf told The Chronicle that this year Elinor has taken on an expanded role, by not only making another generous donation herself but by also enlisting some of her family and friends to contribute new toys, games and clothing. She arranged for so many donations, it filled the entire trunk of one volunteer’s car. Now, thanks in large part to Elinor and the other donors, these children will have a truly wonderful holiday.

RADIO HANUKKAH — It’s been a week for loyal readers to send me tips. This tip tell us that SirriusXM radio has Radio Hanukkah on channel 69 or online channel 761. The station plays Chanukah songs and Jewish music. This reader’s favorite song from last year was “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica,” by Tom Lehrer. The opening lyrics, according to Jewocity.com are:

“I’m spending Hanukkah, in Santa Monica,

Wearing sandals lighting candles by the sea.

I spent Shavuos, in East St. Louis,

A charming spot but clearly not the spot for me.”

The special radio station will be on the air through Dec. 17, at which time it will revert back to regular programming.

CHANUKAH WITH BIBI — The Chronicle’s Jerusalem reporter Sybil Kaplan joined other foreign journalists in Israel for a Chanukah celebration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the third night of the Festival of Lights. The prime minster told the journalists, “Chanukah is where a few had to face the many. Today one has to face the many.” He told the group that since he’s been in office, Israel has “raised awareness in the international community about the dangers posed by a nuclear Iran.” He also said the recent U.N. resolution upgrading the status of Palestine last month ignored Israel’s security needs, and pointed out that when the leader of Hamas called for the destruction of Israel this past week, “there was silence, a deafening silence,” amongst members of the U.N. community. But the prime minister said Israel will not remain silent. “Israel will speak in defense of our rights and what is right.”

Rabbi David Glickman arrived here in July, during what was and continues to be a severe drought. Yet the situation is the exact opposite at Congregation Beth Shalom, where everything is blossoming and thriving under the young rabbi’s leadership.

Rabbi Glickman will be officially installed at a celebratory weekend that begins on Friday night, Dec. 14, with a Shabbat dinner. Rabbi Glickman’s colleague, Rabbi William Gershon, senior rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, Dallas, will install Rabbi Glickman as senior rabbi during the 9:30 a.m. Shabbat service on Dec. 15. For more information regarding the event, contact Stef Williams, 913-647-7269 or .

“Rabbi Gershon has been a tremendous friend and mentor ever since I met him in 2001. He’s one of the most dynamic speakers speaking on any pulpit today, so it will be a treat for the Beth Shalom community to be able to learn from such an engaging teacher,” said Rabbi Glickman during a recent interview at his office.

“This installation weekend is not simply about installing me. It’s really about the rededication of the whole synagogue community to a renaissance at Beth Shalom, of which my arrival is one part,” he continued.

The rabbi may not want the weekend to be solely about him, but it’s clear that both leadership and members have been singing his praises.

“Rabbi Glickman has impressed all of us with his level of caring, compassion, knowledge and enthusiasm. We are so blessed to have Rabbi Glickman, his wife Annie and their children Gavi, Ellie and Dani as a part of our congregational family. With our shared vision for the future, we are on a huge upswing of monumental positive change,” expressed Beth Shalom President Michael Abrams.

Alan Edelman, who co-chaired the search committee with Norman Kahn, Jr., noted that it is not an easy task to select a rabbi who can meet the needs of such a demographically diverse congregation, but he has many ideas about how to engage people in their Judaism based on where they are in their spiritual journey.

“Rabbi Glickman relates well to our youngest preschool children as well as the sages of Beth Shalom. He understands how important it is to widen the door so that everyone can enter,” Edelman said.

Kahn echoed Edelman’s sentiments.

“He’s energized all age groups and really unified us and brought us together in this time of transition,” Kahn said. “He is dedicated to our strategic plan and has already met many of the goals we set for this transition.”

Rabbi Glickman, who was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2001, said he came to the decision to pursue the rabbinate while he was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish studies in 1995.

“I was very involved in Hillel and a number of different activities and specifically I was very involved in pro-Israel politics on campus. As passionate as I am about supporting Israel, I had a realization that without a Jewish people there would be no supporters of the state of Israel and I wanted to dedicate my life to helping build a thriving and flourishing Jewish people.

“I look at the position of a rabbi as being instrumental in pushing forward the future of the Jewish people,” Rabbi Glickman said.

Beth Shalom is Rabbi Glickman’s second pulpit, serving as associate rabbi of Shearith Israel for 11 years. While this is the first time he’s carried the title senior rabbi, his duties there were similar to what they are now.

“Honestly, Shearith Israel was a wonderful training ground and I was given a lot of responsibilities and a lot of freedom, so it hasn’t been so radical a transition. Also Shearith Israel had a satellite service every Shabbat and I was responsible for their satellite community, so I had more executive function than the typical associate rabbi,” he said.

Rabbi Glickman is excited to be working at Beth Shalom; a congregation he said has “a rich history and a tradition of contribution to the Kansas City Jewish community.”

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be here with Beth Shalom for this next chapter,” he said.

In the few short months Rabbi Glickman has been at Beth Shalom, he has come to enjoy the warmth of the people there as well as the congregation’s diversity, which Edelman referenced as well.

“There’s the whole spectrum of religious observance, of Jewish knowledge, and I appreciate the diversity of the synagogue. I find that its diversity makes it a very rich and exciting place to both serve and also to be a member,” the rabbi said.

“Additionally I would say there is a really can-do attitude to Beth Shalom and it’s exciting to work with staff and volunteers who are so positive about wanting to make their synagogue an exciting and meaningful spiritual home.”

Mirra Klausner is one of those volunteers who has gotten to know Rabbi Glickman and his family. Before he even arrived, she said they had heard through the grapevine that families in Dallas were very sad to see him leave. Now, she said, “we know first-hand just what they were talking about!”

“Rabbi Glickman is a captivating speaker, a thoughtful educator, and tries to be accessible to his congregants and lay leaders despite his very busy schedule.” Klausner said. “He really is a mechayah (joy)! He hit the ground running when he got to KC and I believe he is already helping Beth Shalom move forward in a positive direction, which is just what we needed. And our bonus is that Annie is an incredible person and educator herself. They will both, undoubtedly, be major contributors to the richness of Jewish life in Kansas City.”

With 750-member units, Rabbi Glickman said it is a challenge to serve as the only full-time clergy on staff. The congregation is embarking on a search this year for a second clergy position that will focus on the congregation’s educational needs.

“As I mentioned before, the congregation is so engaged and they’ve been so helpful and they want this match to succeed. So we have cadres of volunteers who read Torah every week, who lead our daily minyan every day at Village shalom, as well as members who are running our Bar and Bat Mitzvah program and there have been so many individuals who have stepped up that while it’s very busy, it’s manageable because of the support the congregation has given,” Rabbi Glickman said.

So far Rabbi Glickman has focused his efforts on programming for young families and the Rose Family Early Childhood Education Center, as well as the Polsky Family Religious School and “our incredible KCUSY chapter.” As times goes on he hopes to spend some time creating programs for emerging adults (adults 21 to 35) in those critical years before they start creating families.”

“Also I look forward to building on the rich heritage of adult education that is already in place and expanding our opportunities for members to be engaged in tikkun olam (repairing the world.),” he continued.

“I spoke on Rosh Hashanah about all of the talents and skills that people bring of themselves to create a tabernacle. My overarching goal is to create a place where everyone feels that what they bring to the community is important and matters.”

A hometown favorite is returning to Kansas City this weekend. Journalist and author Calvin Trillin will be at the Jewish Community Center on Sunday to promote his new book of “deadline poetry” about this year’s presidential election.

Trillin has been writing political poetry for The Nation for years, and “Dogfight: The 2012 Presidential Campaign in Verse” is his third book of poetry that follows a presidential election.

The colorful nature of the candidates populating the Republican primary, along with some luck with their names, gave him a good start.

“They had nice names — Mitt, Newt — those kind of names. I would have been in bad shape if the Romneys had decided to call their son by his first name, Willard, instead of his second name, Mitt, because Willard doesn’t rhyme with anything, and the meter’s not good,” Trillin said.

Despite that, no one matched the rhyming potential he had when writing about former Sen. John Sununu several years ago, when he penned the poem “If You Knew What Sununu,” he said.

A number of events during the campaign also made for good material, including Romney’s famous 47 percent gaffe.

“There’s pretty much always something going on, because of the fact that nowadays, partly because of the Internet and smartphones in the room when you think they aren’t. There’s constantly a mini-scandal,” he said. “People like me in the small joke trade, we look on things that might not be good for the country, but are entertaining, the way dentists look at tooth decay — it’s a pity, but where would business be without it?”

Because of its subject, Trillin wanted to get the book out to readers as quickly as possible after the election. He turned in his final draft that Thursday. Because of his regular poetry gig at The Nation, he’s used to writing verse on a deadline.

“Remarkably, it actually existed as a hardcover book the next Tuesday. I told my editor I take back almost everything I’ve ever said about the inefficiency of the publishing industry. Not everything — I reserve a few things,” he said.

After his current book tour, he plans to take some time off to visit one of his daughters in Mexico and take a trip to Rome.

“One of the pleasures of being a grandfather that I hadn’t realized is how much fun it is to see your children as parents,” he said.

He gets back to Kansas City about once a year and enjoys visiting his sister, nephew and many cousins who still live in the area.

After his vacation, Trillin’s next project will probably be a piece for The New Yorker about “a nice murder. Nice for me, not for the guy who got killed,” he said.

Although he has lots of fans, many of them read just one of the many genres he covers — his essays, the deadline poetry, his books on food or others. He does get a lot of comments on the tribute he wrote about his late wife, “About Alice.”

“I sort of enjoy the variety. It’s very satisfying to write a long reporting piece, but it’s fun to write a piece of humor. The subject for me sort of controls the form of what I’m writing,” he said.

Sunday at the JCC

Calvin Trillin will speak at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Jewish Community Center in the White Theatre. Admission is $16 (plus tax) and includes a copy of the book. For tickets, contact Rainy Day Books at www.rainydaybooks.com/CalvinTrillin or 913-384-3126.

Earlier this month Village Shalom resident Millie Reichelt reached an important milestone in her life when she marked her 100th birthday on Nov. 15. She considers herself blessed, having enjoyed a good and healthy life. When asked how old she is, Millie displayed her wonderful sense of humor by replying, “Sweet Sixteen!”

She has borne her years gracefully, continuing to pursue an active lifestyle. Millie is ready to participate in any activity including Shabbat services, excursions to places like the Overland Park Arboretum, happy hour, movies, cooking and exercise sessions. She especially enjoys Bingo and Pokeno and is an accomplished artist.

Millie was born and raised in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. She has an older sister who lives in California and had two brothers. Her parents owned and operated a laundry business, which specialized in linens and draperies all done meticulously by hand. At a young age, Millie showed her natural talent for numbers when she served as her parents’ bookkeeper. She also enjoyed helping her father deliver their customers’ laundry.

After graduating from high school, where she was an honor student, Millie attended business school where she learned typing and shorthand.

She loved to dance and went every Saturday and Sunday to Danceland. Her favorite dances were the waltz, foxtrot and Charleston. She also enjoyed going to famous theaters, such as the Roxy and Paramount, where she saw performances by some of the biggest names of the day: Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra and Milton Berle.

Millie worked as a cashier in a restaurant where she met and dated her future husband, Ben Zedek. They lived next to Prospect Park where she was a full-time mother to their son Michael, whom she said was a very good boy and easy to raise. Millie was a good cook and loved to read. She learned to drive when she was in her late 40s or early 50s. In 1964, while Michael was in college, Millie’s husband Ben passed away. Afterwards, she was hired as a cashier at National Commercial Bank. She was very conscientious, always making sure that all the numbers were correct. Some years later, Millie married Herman Reichelt, and they lived in Albany, N.Y.

In Albany, Millie was very involved in the sisterhood at her synagogue. She was an active volunteer and an especially proficient fundraiser. She ran Bingo games and was active in the production of the annual sisterhood musical production. She also volunteered at a nursing home in Troy, N.Y., where her mother-in-law lived. One of the residents there was the mother of Kirk Douglas. The well-known movie actor used to visit her there, and he sponsored the addition of a wing onto the nursing home.

Millie’s son, Michael, became a rabbi, and in 1974 was named senior rabbi at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah in Kansas City. After Herman Reichelt died, Millie moved to Overland Park where she lived for a while at the Atriums. In 2001, she moved to Village Shalom. Millie is especially proud of her family: her son, Michael, and his wife, Karen; her two granddaughters, Betsy (and her husband Jeremy,) and Susan (and husband Joe and their two children, Sam and Julia).