JOKE OF THE WEEK — Our joke of the week come’s directly from the Torah Learning Center’s weekly email blast:
Little Michael and his family were having dinner at his Bubbe’s house. Everyone was seated around the table as the food was being served. When Michael received his plate, he started eating right away.
“Michael! Please wait until we say our blessing,” said his mother.
“I don’t have to,” The boy replied.
“Of course, you do,” his mother insisted. “We always say a prayer before eating at our house.”
“That’s our house,” Michael explained. “But this is Grandma’s house and she knows how to cook!”

COVER GIRL — Congregation Beth Torah member Shelby George, a senior at Blue Valley North High School, was recently featured on the cover of The Cheer Leader Magazine. In that same issue she was featured as a “rising star” and was also a nominee for Cheerleader of the Year. Shelby is a BVN Cheer Captain this year and in the magazine’s profile she said she loves “the feeling of being out in front of the lights competing with all of my teammates and sharing together what we’ve worked so hard for.” Shelby is the daughter of Vicki George and Bill George. Mom Vicki reports that, alas, she was not voted Cheerleader of the Year.

SEARCHING FOR COUSINS — Jack Heller, a resident of Tampa, Fla., and a retired professor of music, is searching for relatives he believes may be in Kansas City. Many years ago he had an uncle who lived in Kansas City who had two daughters. Heller’s uncle’s name was Sollie (Hirsch) Pohl (changed to Paul). Sollie died of a fatal heart attack in 1960. Heller remembers Sollie’s daughters’ names as Merrie Lee Paul and Deborah Ann Paul. If you know anything about these ladies, Heller would love to hear from you. He would be especially thrilled to have a conversation with Merrie Lee and/or Deborah Ann. Heller can be reached at 813-975-5711 and .

UNICORN FUNDRAISER — The Unicorn Theatre (which has been led by Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin since 1980) and radio station 90.1 KKFI will hold a “Blues on the Block” fundraiser at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at the theater on the Jerome Stage. The fundraiser will feature music from Shannon and the Rhythm King Band, Crosseyed Cat and Rich Berry. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show and there will be free BBQ and a cash bar. To purchase tickets, call Unicorn Theatre at 816-531-PLAY (7529), ext. 10, online at www.UnicornTheatre.org or in person at the box office located at 3828 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111.

“Kosher Jesus” by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Gefen Publishing House, $26 hardcover, January 2012.

Jerusalem — Shmuley Boteach is not only a very fast-speaking rabbi, but he is very charismatic, knowledgeable and engaging and one of the world’s leading relationship experts. His 26 books (including the best-seller, “Kosher Sex”) have been translated into 20 languages.

MediaCentral, the Jerusalem resource agency for foreign journalists, recently invited the rabbi to speak about his newest book, his first published in Israel. Rabbi Boteach was in Israel on a private visit.

The rabbi declared that this book is “the true story of Jesus the Jew.”

“Christianity is perceived as an enemy of the Jewish people, personalized in Jesus, who became a diety,” he declared. “I wrote the book to create the theological bridge between Christians and Jews.”

He said some Jews even feel it is inappropriate to mention the name of Jesus in a synagogue. “Most Jews are deeply suspicious of the relationship with Christians.”

On the other hand, he asked if Christians know the Jewish Jesus. Christians have to discover the Jewish Jesus who was teaching Jewish values.

The rabbi explained that Jesus was a man who felt the rabbis of his time were hypocrites and Judaism was corrupt. He asked, why then did the rabbis want Jesus dead? Because he allowed people to pick wheat on the Sabbath, they did not know he was a Torah-observant Jew all his life, he predicted the destruction of the Temple, he claimed to be the messiah and he claimed to be divine, calling himself the son of man and referring to G-d, as my father.

“There was nothing blasphemous so who wanted him dead? The Romans wanted Jesus dead.” The rabbi also questioned why the Romans were not mentioned in the New Testament and why is Pilate white washed. “They were the brutal occupiers, mass murderers.”

Rabbi Boteach admitted “Christians will not accept everything I wrote in this book but everything he (Jesus) taught came straight from Jewish sources.” For example, he pointed out sources of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount,” from Psalms 35 and 24, and Lamentations 3.

“Christianity is an extension of Judaism. Jews can accept him as a teacher and martyr,” he said.

“This is why Jews are easy prey for missionaries — if you don’t know what Jesus said about Jews in the New Testament.”

“I expect there will be a lot of resistance to this book,” said the rabbi, “but the research was very compelling…. Christians don’t have to reject the divinity of Jesus. We can look at Jesus in different ways. This is my rendition of the Jewish Jesus.”
Summarizing the book, he said, “This is a serious and honest look at the Jewish Jesus by a well-known rabbi which leads to an honest conversation.”

At times during his presentation he digressed from the topic of his book. For example, he mentioned Mel Gibson, whom he characterized not as an anti-Semite but as the “Jew hater” and his “blood libel film,” “The Passion of the Christ.”

But he did praise evangelicals for their stalwart support of Israel. He noted that over the past 30 years there has been a change no one could have predicted — that being a new political alliance between the Jewish community and the Christian evangelicals. “The Jews are not sufficiently appreciative of the Christian evangelicals,” he said.

When Jewish professionals gather in discussion of The PJ Library, a program that provides free, high-quality Jewish children’s literature and music to families across the continent on a monthly basis, the Kansas City version of The PJ Library is almost always mentioned as a model.

The PJ Library is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and is made possible through partnerships with philanthropists and local Jewish organizations. In Kansas City it is supported by the Jewish Federation. All families raising Jewish children in the Kansas City area from 6 months of age through age 8 are welcome to enroll. The program is offered free of charge.

Karen Gerson, director of informal education for CAJE, the educational arm of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, said one of the main reasons the program is so successful here and talked about nationwide is because it is very collaborative. That collaboration has helped ensure high enrollment.

“We have almost 70 percent of our 6-month through age 8 group of kids enrolled in the program. Depending on the day we have around 650 enrollees and we have about 1,000 children that fall within this age group. It’s really unheard of to have this big of a number engaged and involved in this program,” Gerson said.

Here in Kansas City The PJ Library is popular not only with families with young children, but with their grandparents and aunts and uncles as well. As it begins its fifth year here in March, it has also developed a very devoted committee of volunteers who are ambassadors representing the area’s congregations as well as the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and the Jewish Community Center’s Child Development Center.

Twice a year those ambassadors will check the list of members in that age group with the list of PJ Library enrollees. Anyone not on The PJ Library list will be contacted in some way by the ambassador. That could mean anything from a personal phone call from the ambassador, a message of some type from a professional in the organization or simply a flyer about enrolling in the program.

“We really work hard to make sure that all those that are engaged and involved in synagogue or preschool life here in Kansas City are given the opportunity to take part in PJ Library. Other cities don’t have a system in place where professionals work together as closely as we do here. Our system works well here because we all see that a community program like this is a win-win not only for the community but for the individual institutions as well,” Gerson said.

There’s even a member of the committee who is what Gerson calls “under engaged,” meaning a person who is not a member of a congregation. That person serves as PJ Library’s liaison with those who do not have children enrolled in a Jewish preschool or are members of a synagogue.

“In the past we have never publicized the program in the secular world. We have recently brainstormed some things that we can do there, also. So that person’s role is also to work to get the word out about PJ Library in the secular world,” Gerson said.
In addition to the monthly books and CDs that are mailed from the national headquarters, Kansas City’s PJ Library sponsors several programs throughout the year. Last year those programs took on a collaborative spin as well and the plan is to continue that direction in 2012. For instance this Sunday’s concert featuring Sheldon Low is being co-sponsored by all the Jewish preschools.(See below for more information.)

“That helps us in a number of ways. First of all, preschool teachers and the preschool professionals will be there. Parents and children always like to see a familiar face at events. They also really help promote it and they want their families to be there and it makes it more community minded when we have the backing and support from the congregations and institutions,” Gerson said.

This year PJ Library will continue its partnership with HBHA’s My First Book Club.

“It’s monthly on Wednesday afternoons for 3- to 5-year-olds to help promote the Academy and see what life is like as a kindergartner there. PJ Library books, PJ Library activities and a snack are provided there as well,” Gerson said.

The newest program this year is being coordinated with The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.

“In January we’re starting PJ in the Ark. B’nai Jehudah has a beautiful ark in the library where the program will take place. There will be three opportunities on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. where any 2-year-old to pre-K child, whether they are B’nai Jehudah members or not, is welcome to attend a story time and art activity and snack, all using PJ Library books,” she explained.

Another popular PJ Library program takes place in February for grandparents or grandfriends and children ages 2 to pre-K. It’s planned by a committee comprised of grandmothers and their daughters.

“It’s an opportunity for grandparents to have special time with their grandchildren and for the parents to have a couple of hours on their own,” Gerson said.

This program will be held at Kehilath Israel Synagogue. For the past four years most, but not all, of the programs were held at the Jewish Community Campus.

“We’re trying to get out there and showcase the community to families with young children,” Gerson said.

Sheldon Low performs PJ Library concert Sunday,  Jan. 8

Sheldon Low will perform a concert aimed at children ages infant to age 8 and their families on Sunday, Jan. 8, in the Social Hall at the Jewish Community Campus. Doors open at 3:45 p.m., the concert begins at 4 p.m. and is expected to last an hour. It is free and open to the community. Second grade students from the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy will join him for a few songs.

Low is considered the newest face in Jewish music performing rock concerts, Shabbat Services and leading artist-in-residency weekends in Jewish communities throughout the United States. During the past three summers he has performed at a variety of Jewish summer camps throughout the country and frequently appears on stage with Jewish rock musician Rick Recht. He has released two albums, “On One Foot” and “It’s All Challah to Me.”

While his professional bio says he was born and raised in St. Louis, Low did live in Kansas City for a while and actually attended the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy for a couple of years when he was very young.

“It’s really nice to be able to bring back a professional entertainer who has roots here,” said Karen Gerson, director of informal education for CAJE, the educational arm of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.

Gerson said Low’s style is very similar to Recht’s, who is a popular entertainer who played to a large PJ Library crowd last January.

“We’re really excited that we are able to provide two family-friendly concerts in a row that are intergenerational. We’re noticing that grandparents and aunts and uncles are attending these big events and everyone is welcome,” Gerson said.

For the first time ever, Congregation Beth Torah will play host to an American Library Association touring exhibit. “A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs,” will be on display for six weeks from Wednesday, Jan. 11, through Thursday, Feb. 23, in the congregation’s foyer. The exhibit highlights the lives and works of Jewish American popular music composers from 1910-1965. It is free and open to the public.

To launch the exhibit, the community is invited to Beth Torah for a concert, “What Makes it Jewish: A Musical Revue,” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14. This evening of song will celebrate the work of the composers highlighted in the exhibit. The concert will feature Beth Torah Music Director Linda Matorin Sweenie, the Beth Torah choirs, ensembles and soloists performing American classics from Gershwin, Berlin, Bernstein, Rodgers & Hammerstein and many more. There is no charge for the concert.

Sweenie said Beth Torah learned about the exhibit about a year and a half ago. The Reform congregation discovered that organizations were being given the opportunity to host the traveling exhibit, which is underwritten by grants from numerous sources including the Charles H. Revson Foundation, The Righteous Persons Foundation and The David Berg Foundation.

“The Beth Torah Adult Education Committee approached me about working with them to submit a proposal, and we were one of 55 organizations nationwide chosen to host it. Most of these 55 locations are either libraries, universities or Jewish community centers. Beth Torah was the only synagogue that was selected as a host venue,” Sweenie said.

Along with hosting the exhibit and the concert, Beth Torah will offer three adult education sessions associated with the exhibit. Sweenie will lead these sessions.

The first will be a walk-through of the exhibit the day after the kick-off concert, on Sunday, Jan. 15. The second is Wednesday evening, Jan. 25, and will be about how traditional Jewish melodies influenced the composers’ music. She said the last session on Wednesday evening, Feb. 15, will cover how Jewish ethical teachings were infused into the lyrics of the songs.

Sweenie said the exhibit itself will showcase both photos and information.

“It will feature information about composers like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern. It will include information about their backgrounds and how their Jewish heritage informed their music and changed the face of popular music in America,” Sweenie said.

Sweenie is very excited about the Jan. 14 concert.

“It will feature great music from the composers featured in the exhibit, performed by the Beth Torah choirs, instrumental ensemble and soloists. We’ll also include some fun surprises,” she said.

A Fine Romance

The American Library Association’s traveling exhibit, “A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs,” will be on display at Congregation Beth Torah from Wednesday, Jan. 11, through Thursday, Feb. 23. The exhibit will be open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fridays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be closed Tuesdays and Saturdays.

A concert to kick off the exhibit, “What Makes it Jewish: A Musical Revue,” will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday evening, Jan. 14, in Beth Torah’s sanctuary.

Beth Torah Music Director Linda Matorin Sweenie will lead “The Insider’s Tour,” at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 15. She will treat visitors to inside information and little known facts about the composers and music highlighted in the exhibit.

“Jewish Musical Influences on American Popular Music,” scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, will answer the question: What makes that music sound Jewish? Sweenie will explain how melodies and music from traditional Jewish music and holidays influenced Jewish American composers and songwriters highlighted in the exhibit.

The final special event associated with the exhibit is “Jewish Themes in American Popular Music.” Sweenie will explore how Jewish themes and values are reflected in the work of the composers highlighted at the exhibit and how Jewish experience informs the lyrics and subject matter of so many of their songs. It takes place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit Beth Torah’s website, www.beth-torah.org or contact Linda Matorin Sweenie at 913-498-2212 or .

Notice anything different about Kansas City’s theater scene lately? Theater League is once again producing shows here.
Blue Man Group headlined Theater League’s return to the area in mid-December. Its next big show is “An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin,” at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Jan 17-22. For ticket information call 816-994-7222 or visit www.theaterleague.org.

Kansas City native and Theater League Executive Director Mark Edelman is happy to be presenting Broadway shows again in his hometown. He founded Theater League in 1976. It is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, community-based performing arts organization dedicated to the development of professional theater, both as a cultural and an educational resource. Serving its constituent communities by producing and presenting Broadway musicals, plays and new works in local performing arts centers, Theater League has more than 30,000 members who subscribe to its cultural offerings in eight cities across the country.

Edelman and Theater League produced Broadway shows here for almost 30 years. Then Broadway Across American, a big dog in the theater industry, became interested in the area, and outbid the local non-profit organization for the privilege of producing shows at the Music Hall in 2006. Theater League’s last season here was 2006-2007.

“I had pushed renovating the Music Hall because the theater was not capable of accommodating shows like ‘Wicked’ and some of the big things that were coming out. I probably pushed a little hard and I think I irritated some people with the city,” Edelman said.

Edelman said he now knows he “unreasonably assumed” that since Theater League had produced shows at the Music Hall for 30 years, it would just be logical to stick with what works.

“But that’s not how it works in politics,” he said.

It certainly wasn’t a happy experience for him, but as he puts it, “you go on.”

The Theater League did just that. By then it had expanded to seven other cities — Mesa and Phoenix in Arizona; Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks in California; South Bend, Ind.; Toledo, Ohio; and Wichita, Kan. — so the organization concentrated all its efforts in those places.

Kauffman opens

While the Music Hall continues to be the exclusive domain of Broadway Across America, as the Kauffman was being built Edelman saw an opportunity to begin presenting shows here again, where he has maintained his permanent residence. The Kauffman was already committed to the symphony, the ballet and the opera, but that still left three or four weeks in the year for other events. Edelman went after those dates.

Not only did he make an agreement with the Kauffman Center, he chose to seek out his old adversary, Broadway Across America, and suggested the two organizations present a season together.

This is not an official partnership because Broadway Across America is a for-profit company and Theater League in not for profit. As Edelman explains it, Theater League is cooperating on a Broadway series combining Broadway Across America’s presentations at the Music Hall and Theater League’s shows at the Kauffman.”

He thinks the arrangement works.

“This gets the Broadway subscriber to come over to this brand new gorgeous theater at the Kauffman to see shows that are a little more esoteric than the Music Hall. The Music Hall is the place for the blockbuster like ‘Jersey Boys’ and ‘Wicked’ and the Kauffman is the place for more intimate, but still very successful, Broadway productions,” he said.

Edelman believes the union has been successful so far.

“We increased the subscription count that Broadway Across America had by 60 percent in this first year. So I think everybody is happy with how it went,” Edelman said. “Of course our patrons are also getting a world-class theatrical experience at the Kauffman, which I’m sure was a big part of the attraction.”

He’s excited about this whole inaugural season at the Kauffman, especially “Million Dollar Quartet,” (March 20-25) and “Next to Normal,” (June 5-10).

“ ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ closed on Broadway but is re-opening in New York. It’s about a night in 1956 when Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash all got together in the Sun Records in Memphis. It’s about their relationship and they sing all these great songs. These guys are so talented and they sound like the young versions of these four guys and it’s just a rollicking good time,” he said.

The Kauffman portion of the Broadway season closes with “Next to Normal,” which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2010.

“It is in fact a musical about a somewhat dysfunctional family,” Edelman said. “I know that sounds sad, but it’s gripping, it’s funny, it’s certainly poignant and it’s true to life and that’s one of the important things about the theater. It’s a great show.”
He said it certainly wasn’t a happy experience to get that call when he learned Theater League was not getting its contract renewed at the Music Hall. But overall it’s been fun to do what he does. He’s also really enjoyed the challenge of presenting at the Kauffman this season.

“It’s like opening a mini new business for us. The bottom line is always the same. Are we enhancing the quality life in these communities with theater? Are we contributing to the experience of living in a place by providing this resource? If we can say yes to that, it’s the same great experience.”

Theater League’s beginnings

Edelman has always enjoyed theater and started out in the business young, first as a volunteer assistant stage manager for The Barn players, “moving around sets and props” and being a part of the JCC’s old Resident Theatre’s production of “Our Town” in 1977. As a performer, he played in his high school rock band, Changin’ Times. He continues to play on occasion with Guns ‘n Charoses along with his brother, Alan Edelman, the associate executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.

While in college as an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis majoring in theater, he started promoting plays and concerts.

He continued to stay active in the theater community while he attended law school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. During that time he put on concerts and speeches at the Music Hall. The first show he presented, in 1976, was “National Lampoon Lemmings,” an Off-Broadway revue which sold old.

“I remember partying with the group at the apartment I lived at, at 44th and Walnut. The cast was Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Chris Guest,” Edelman said.

About that same time he had spent a summer in New York volunteering for Lawyers Volunteer for the Arts.

“I was interested in not just the law but also arts organizations, not-for-profit law and the performing arts. That segued into founding a non-profit organization called Theater League,” he said.

Edelman said the first Broadway show Theater League produced was “Grease” in 1977 at the Lyric. Its first full season was 1977-78.

“The keystone of that season was a three-week engagement of ‘The Chorus Line,’ which was somewhat unprecedented not just for Kansas City but for the road, the touring markets around the country. ‘Chorus Line’ marked a renaissance in the life of the road and the new trend to create subscription audiences after the model of symphonies and opera and ballet. I was there at the beginning,” he said.

When some people hear the word diet they think of pre-packaged meals and an absence of their favorite food.

But that doesn’t have to be the case according to diet expert and Kansas City native Judy Belzer-Weitzman. In fact, she recently published a book, “How to Eat When Life Gets in the Way,” to help clients and others learn how to eat without ever thinking of the word diet. (The book was published by Dog Eat Publishing and can be purchased on Weitzman’s website, dietcoachjudy.com, as well as at booksellers such as amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. It is available in traditional and e-reader formats.)

“I just want people to learn how to live in the real world and go to parties and still have fun and not gain weight,” Weitzman said.

Weitzman, who was a member of Congregation Beth Shalom while growing up, is the daughter of the late Bernard Belzer and the late Stan and Mirah Rostov. Her nephew and KC native Jeremy Belzer, the son of Irv and Sue Belzer, illustrated the book. He now lives in San Francisco.

Weitzman became an expert in weight loss because of her own weight-loss success. She lost 50 pounds more than 30 years ago and has kept it off since then.

“I was a binge eater,” Weitzman said.

She said she ate whenever she felt stressed. She recalls once eating a whole cheesecake while sitting alone in her apartment.
The diet coach said she decided to lose weight after she started working in sales for a weight-loss company. She did it through healthy eating, portion control and exercise. Today she helps others achieve their weight loss goals using the same common sense approach.

Weitzman said she decided to write a book to consolidate her tips and advice for her clients.

“I couldn’t find a book that had the kind of tips that I wanted in the bookstore,” Weitzman said.

She also hopes her book encourages people to make healthy food choices. One of the keys to those choices, she said, is eating in moderation. She does not make any food off limits to her or her clients.

“It’s about portion control,” Weitzman said.

Her book offers tips for people such as what to order at restaurants and the best items to eat at parties.

Weitzman said she prefers to eat out and explained that most restaurants have healthy options available for diners.

“It’s easier to eat out than to eat at home,” she said.

Weitzman said people should know what they plan to order before they enter the restaurant.

“Once you are there it’s just about ordering clean and ordering simple,” she said.

Another one of Weitzman’s dining out tips is ordering sauces and dressings on the side. She chooses to dip her fork in the dressing before each bite, which enables her to get the flavor of the dressing without ingesting tablespoons of it and the extra calories that brings with it.

Weitzman points out that people don’t have to deny their sweet tooths in order to lose or maintain weight.

“My favorite thing to order when I eat out is dessert,” Weitzman said.

She points out that fruits or sorbets are always good dessert options. Another way to satisfy those cravings, she suggests, is splitting a dessert with the table. For instance she will limit her intake of high-calorie desserts to two or three bites and will savor every single bite.

Hydration, exercise and eating less are the key components to weight loss, Weitzman said. She recommends to her clients that they drink a glass of water with every meal. She takes that one step further by suggesting that at a restaurant, one drink a glass of water before the food arrives and an additional glass of water with the meal.

“Drinking water helps people feel full,” Weitzman said. “It also keeps people from eating when they are actually thirsty and not hungry.”

Another tip Weitzman finds that works well is having her clients record everything they eat each day. At the end of the day, the client emails the list to her.

“It’s the accountability that makes the difference,” Weitzman said.

Dianne Andrews lives in the Chicago area and turned to Weitzman when she wanted to lose weight.

“I heard about Judy from a friend of mine at my Pilates studio,” Andrews said. “I got in touch with Judy because over the last 15 years I was slowly gaining weight to the point that I was tired of it.”

With Weitzman’s guidance Andrews lost more than 25 pounds and went from a size 12 to a size 2.

“Judy is very smart about what she does. She encourages you to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week,” Anderson said. “It never felt like a diet.”

Melissa Price of Scottsdale, Ariz., also had success with Weitzman as her diet coach. Price lost about 20 pounds five years ago and she still uses Weitzman to help her keep the weight off.

“It’s not a diet. It’s a way of living,” Price said. “She really changes the way you look at food forever.”

The early 1930s marked a tremendous output for the growth of the arts and culture in Kansas City. In October 1933 the University of Kansas City opened. One month late, Karl Krueger and the Kansas City Philharmonic performed their first concert. The very next month the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and the Atkins Museum opened their doors to present their world class collection of art.

However, before any of these institutions, there was The Resident Theatre of the Jewish Community Center, Kansas City’s oldest community theater. Holding its first performance in 1932, the Resident Theatre would continue for the next 50 years and be recognized as one of the best community theaters in the United States.

Richard Piland’s new book, “The Illustrated History of the Resident Theatre Kansas City, Missouri 1932-1983,” chronicles this piece of Kansas City and Jewish history. The book features pictures and descriptions of almost all of the major productions the theater offered.

“The Resident Theatre was monumental for theater in Kansas City during the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s,” said Piland, who describes himself as an amateur historian. “It was one of the best community theaters in the country.”

Piland self-published the book. It can be purchased by contacting him at . A CD version of the manuscript is also available.

This book is a result of more than 40 years of research, growing out of work Piland began while attending Central Missouri State College (now the University of Central Missouri). He was writing his master’s thesis and enlisted the help of several members of the Jewish community at that time, including Max Bretton, who was once the executive director of the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association, and Sol Margolin, who served as executive director of the JCC.

As Piland writes in the book’s preface, “Sadly, nearly all of the Resident’s archival records were lost or destroyed.” So he went to the directors, actors and reviewers to gather information and pictures on the productions. Once again he sought help from the Jewish community, where he was given access to souvenir programs, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and other memorabilia.

“While I was doing my research I met some interesting, fascinating people,” Piland said. “And the feedback from those people when they see the book has been quite good. They say it brings back a lot of memories.”

What Piland’s research told him was that this was a  sophisticated theater company.

“Within six months of their debut, they were staging successful Broadway shows, and were even able to recreate the Broadway sets,” Piland said. “And it’s most impressive all of the great actors that came out of there.”

Piland said some of the most famous plays in American history were first performed for local audiences at the Resident Theatre. Out of the 210 plays the Resident performed, 95 were selected as one of the “10 Best Plays of the Season” for the year they were originally performed on Broadway.

The book quotes Harry I. Schwimmer, the first president of the Resident’s Theatre Guild, as saying the basic goal of the theater was “to provide young men and women with an outlet for creative expression. We give them plays of sound merit and every advantage of stage technical detail”

The Resident was housed in the 1600 Linwood Jewish Community Center from 1932 to 1961. When the Jewish Community Center moved to 8201 Holmes in 1961, the theater moved there as well where it continued to operate until 1983.

“The Resident Theatre was a project of the Jewish community, the Jewish Community Center subsidized it, but it was a public theater,” Piland said. “It was a community theater in the truest sense. Everyone was welcome and everyone made it work.”

This relationship between the theater and the community was also emphasized by the agreement between the Jewish Community Center and the new University of Kansas City that enabled the school’s student body to attend all lectures and Resident productions. This educational program allowed students to be exposed to a range of guest speakers and unique productions they otherwise would have missed.

“Great appreciation should go to the Jewish Community Center for their support,” Piland said. “The community center made it possible for the theater to happen.”

In its 50 years of staging performances, The Resident Theatre received numerous recognitions. It was awarded a “Professional” rating by the Society of Author’s Representatives, held institutional memberships in the National Theater Conference and the American National Theater and Academy. National media including NBC and CBS radio and television stations as well as Theater Arts and Stage magazine gave it positive coverage.

“There was really no theater being produced in Kansas City when the Resident was formed in 1932,” Piland said. “Its contribution to the local theater groups is still felt today.”

The theater’s last production was “Inherit the Wind” in 1983.

“The theater brought a good group of people together, they did Pulitzer Prize winning plays and raised audiences’ expectations of what good theater is,” Piland said. “The theater helped stimulate the professional theater groups in town. It gave Kansas City an early start for quality theater that it might not have had otherwise.”

“B’te Avon III Tasteful Treasures” from North Boundary Hadassah, three-ring binder, $25 plus $7 postage and handling; order from or North Boundary Hadassah, 4711 Golf Road, Skokie, Il. 50076

For the 40-some years I’ve been involved with food as a food writer, cookbook author and cookbook reviewer, I have maintained that cookbooks created with contributions by individuals are the best cookbooks. Grass roots contributors are creative, resourceful, original, imaginative and inventive.

Many of these are produced as fundraisers for organizations as is the case with this cookbook by a Chicago Hadassah chapter.
I had the opportunity to know and work with 10 of these women when I served as president of the Great Plains Region, which had joint activities with the Big Chapter of Chicago of which North Boundary is a part. Another woman who worked on the book, Evie Lowenthal, used to live in the Kansas City metro area and recently joined the North Boundary Chapter.

It was a great joy to peruse the pages and make notes of recipes I want to try. The three-ring notebook format is functional and user friendly and the enormous collection makes it an extremely practical book.

This kosher cookbook has indication by each recipe whether it is dairy, meat or pareve.

Whatever you want is here — everything from appetizers to frozen desserts. There are no less than 13 different recipes for cheesecakes. The Passover chapter, with a total of 70 recipes, could be its own book.

There is an index of contributors with recipe names and pages and an index of recipes by categories.

Among the many recipes I liked are Couscous Chicken Salad; Cheesy Potato Bake; Chicken and Vegetable Tagine; Chocolate Chip Banana Bread; Orange Snowballs; and Chocolate Chip Mandel Bread for Passover.

Was there anything I would change? Yes. Many pages had blank space which could have been used for a sentence or two by the contributor giving the recipe’s origins, how long he or she had made it and why the recipe was included in the cookbook.

I am also disappointed that the number of servings is missing from some of the recipes.

If you’re looking for a special gift, order a copy of this cookbook. It will delight anyone who receives it — a new bride, someone celebrating a birthday or anniversary, a house gift or a holiday present. While you’re at it, buy one for yourself.
Here are some recipes from “B’te Avon III:”

Broccoli Noodle Casserole
Pareve

8 oz. med. noodles, cooked and drained
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 (10 oz) pkg. broccoli, thawed and drained
3 large eggs, beaten
1 c. non-dairy creamer
1/8 lb. pareve margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray pan bottom of 8x8 ovenproof dish. Mix all ingredients and place in dish. Bake for 55 minutes.

Oh, Nuts!
Pareve

1 egg
1 T. water
1 (1-lb) bag pecans
1 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Froth the egg and water. Coat the pecans in this mixture. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and salt. Toss the coated pecans in this mixture. Spread into a greased 9x11 ovenproof pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes. Spread onto a cookie sheet to cool. Store in a sealable bag or covered container.

Grilled Chinese Chicken Burgers Meat

1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
½ c. cilantro, chopped fine
1 green onion, minced
1 t. five-spice powder
¼ c. bread crumbs, ground fine
1/3 c. hoisin sauce

In a large bowl, place chicken, water chestnuts, cilantro, onion, five-spice powder, bread crumbs and 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce. Mix until just combined. Form into four patties of equal size. Grill until done and brush with hoisin sauce.

FIRST JEWISH BABY — As we began preparing this week’s paper word came in that this year’s first Jewish baby was born Jan. 2. Stay tuned for more information!

AWARD-WINNING POET — For the second time, Marie Asner of Overland Park is the Kansas winner of the Annual State Senior Poet Laureate Competition. She’s been married for 43 years to Harold Asner. Her poem, “dot on the horizon,” reflects on a typical Kansas winter scene. She said the inspiration for this poem came from a weather man “because he said the ice crystals look like diamonds.” Asner added that when you look out across the trees it does “looks like jewelry.” This poem was also included in “Begin Again: 150 Kansas Poems,” an anthology of poetry published in honor of the 150th anniversary of the state of Kansas. Kansas Poet Laureate Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg edited the anthology, which was published this past November.

TOYS FOR PEACE — Israeli born stone artist Sam Nachum and Egyptian born scientist Achmed El Sharif’s dream of creating peace in Gaza and Israel began Dec. 21 when their first shipment of a full 20-foot container of toys for the children of both countries. The toys were donated by Kansas Citians and are traveling by boat to Israel where half the toys will be delivered to Gaza children and half the toys delivered to Sderot, Israel. Both Nachum and El Sharif want peace for the Middle East for these children, who live in areas that are regularly bombed by adults. Both men experienced war as children in Israel and Egypt. Both also came to America and found their careers — one in developing medicine to heal cancer, and the other to build structures and art out of stone quarried in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The toys are expected to arrive on Feb. 13.

It’s becoming more and more popular for high school graduates to take a “gap” year before heading out to college. Most use it as a way to explore another part of the world or to spend time doing something they deem meaningful.

Tyler Kavanaugh is taking a gap year, too. But the 2011 Shawnee Mission East High School graduate is taking his at the Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB) in Kansas City, Kan. Unlike those who take a gap year to step away from the rigors of formal education or to understand oneself better, Tyler’s gap year is preparing him to fly from the nest and live independently on his own.

Tyler was born with congenital hearing and sight problems. He can see little bits of color as well as light and dark, “but not enough to read.”

His hearing is enhanced by cochlear implants. He got the first one in his right ear when he was only 5 ½ years old. A cochlear implant, according to the National Institutes of Health, is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin.

He got an implant in his left ear when he was 13.

“I wouldn’t hear anything without them, so I guess they are a great thing,” he said.

As soon as Tyler was born his parents, Kurt and Stephanie Kavanaugh, began advocating for him and making sure he was in all the right programs and schools to ensure that Tyler could live a happy, productive and independent life. His enrollment at KSSB is just the next step on that road for Tyler.

“I chose to do it because it would teach me the skills that I need to live on my own,” he explained in an interview at his home.

The school

Tyler is enrolled in KSSB’s Transition Program, which is a comprehensive and individualized program that aims to provide the skills and experiences to facilitate an effective transition from high school to adulthood and the world of work.

He attends the school Monday through Friday. The Shawnee Mission School District provides the transportation to and from the school, delivering him to school on Monday and returning him home at the end of the school week. In the dorm Tyler lives with students who are high-school age through transition, which is 21.

The transition program is tailored to fit the student’s needs. Tyler will be there just this school year. He is learning tasks, as Tyler explained, many of us learned by imitation.

“Some people have to take more than one year, but I don’t,” he said.

In addition to his classes at the School for the Blind, Tyler is also enrolled at Kansas City Kansas Community College. A teacher from KSSB drives the students to and from the community college in a van.

“This lets me get some of the freshman requirements out of the way and save a little money in terms of tuition and class expenses,” the 18-year-old student added.

At KSSB, Tyler is learning such things as cooking, cleaning and laundry.

“I haven’t had to do a whole lot of that stuff before,” he said.

His mother said that he is learning the skills that freshman boys don’t generally have “but can figure out on their own. It’s harder to figure out on your own when you can’t see what everybody else is doing.”

He especially enjoys some classes, such as woodshop.

“It’s really fun because the teacher actually lets us use a lot of tools. When I took the same class in middle school, the teacher did a lot of the cutting and drilling using the power tools and we just got to do the stuff with the hand tools. We do everything,” he said.

Fingers for blind people are especially important as they are used to read Braille. While some of the equipment KSSB uses in woodshop is designed especially to protect those fingers, Tyler said most is just regular equipment.

“I’m not worried about hurting myself. What is important is learning how to use the tools safely and if you use them safely the equipment won’t hurt you,” he said.

He’s proud of the 12 x 12 x 6 wooden box he’s built. He keeps it in his dorm room to store personal items.

Academically at community college he just completed a course called Assistive Technology in the Work Place. It was a one-on-one class with an instructor, who also is blind, who discussed different programs and strategies that can be used to make things like computers work better for those who have visual impairments.

Mom Stefanie thinks it’s a good thing for KSSB students, like Tyler, to interact with the blind instructor at KCKCC, introducing the students to a blind person working successfully in the community.

Socially, Tyler said things can still be a little hard for him.

“Even though I’m in an environment where everybody else has vision impairments, the thing that’s hard for me is the hearing part,” he said. “If I’m out in the common area of the dorm, I can’t see if someone is wearing headphones and that’s why they don’t respond to me. Extra noise in the room can also be a problem.”

Stephanie Kavanaugh said she and Kurt are happy with Tyler’s experiences so far.

“We haven’t had any separation issues. Tyler has a very strong sense of self. He’s very confident about his current abilities or his ability to learn what he needs to know,” she said.

As a father, Kurt Kavanaugh thinks the program is good for Tyler and the family.

“It is a good program because he is planning to go to a college far away. I can’t just drive 30 minutes to KU if there is a problem. He needs to learn to take care of it and be responsible and be mature enough to get up and go to class on his own,” Kurt Kavanaugh said.

Tyler’s program has helped his mother as well.

“I have a tendency to hover a bit,” she said. “I think it’s a good transition for me as a parent to have him away but still coming home on the weekends. He can learn to do things on his own but I still get to check on him on the weekend and he can still be here for doctor appointments and haircuts and things. It’s not a complete separation all at once. It’s baby steps for the mother, too.”

Tyler said he is enjoying living away from home.

“But I miss home when I’m not here and I miss school when I’m not there,” he said.

The next step

Next year Tyler hopes to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. and study software engineering.

“I think I can do it. I know I can do it,” he said.

Part of the reason he wants to go to Rochester is because The National Technical Institute for the Deaf is part of the university.

“If I apply through them, I get a tuition cut because of my hearing impairment,” said Tyler, who noted that of the 17,000 students, about 1,400 have a hearing impairment.

The school also has an audiology clinic on campus which is an important support for Tyler should he have a problem with one of his cochlear implant processors.

When he goes away to college, he will be a plane ride away from home versus the short distance he is now. But it won’t be the first time he has been away from home for an extended period of time. As a young camper, he spent five summers at Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute in Oconomowoc, Wis. He then spent two summers at the URJ Kutz Camp in Warwick, N.Y. This past summer he attended Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. It was a combination camp/vocational experience.

Tyler was the first camper in this program to have a visual impairment. Most of the campers have Asperger’s syndrome or are high functioning teens on the autistic spectrum.

“We all had a different job in town. Some people worked in the grocery store or the coffee shop or the library. I got one of the most unique jobs at a computer store. I was doing computer programming for them. That was because we wanted a job for me that would use my skill set. I thought it was a great match and a great fit,” he said.

Besides being his first job experience, this camp experience was the first time Tyler was responsible for being on his own, without a mother or a counselor, to do such things as get up and get to appointments on time.

“We found a talking, vibrating alarm clock for him to use,” Stephanie Kavanaugh said. “It was a challenge. You can usually find one for the hearing impaired or the visually impaired, but not both. This has a vibrating pad that goes under the pillow.”

Leisure activities included the typical camp activities such as hiking as well as bowling and miniature golf.

“I can do both just fine. Someone just has to line me up,” Tyler explained.

Mom said watching the video of the ropes course was harrowing for her, but Tyler said it was fun.

Tyler’s Judaism

A member of Congregation Beth Shalom, Tyler really enjoys reading Torah. That’s another challenge for him, one not based on his Hebrew skills but based on Jewish law. Conservative rabbis don’t all agree on whether it’s lawful to read the Torah using a chumash versus reading directly from the Torah scroll itself. Traditionalists insist the reader must be literally reading from the Torah if it is within the regularly required number of readings.

Tyler explained that he is allowed to read Maftir or a Hosofah, which are outside the minimum number, or he is allowed to read Haftarah.

Other authorities claim that this position should be changed to enable a serious Torah reader to read regardless of a disability.
Tyler stated, “I have read with one hand on the Braille and one hand on the scroll itself with someone guiding my hand. That way I would be reading basically the same line, but I thought that was way too cumbersome.”

Kurt Kavanaugh, who is president of Beth Shalom’s board, pointed out that if Tyler wants the practice changed at the congregation, it is his job to approach the ritual committee about making it. Tyler isn’t sure whether he will take such a stand.

“I think I’ll see what’s ahead. It’s up to different rabbis and different congregations,” he said.

Tyler is hoping to be able to attend Camp Ramah in Wisconsin again this summer, this time as a counselor. He is also confident that he is learning the skills he needs to go to college, go to Jewish camp and eventually work and live on his own.

“I feel that my experiences, both at camp and school, have prepared me well for college and my future, wherever it may happen to take me.”