Archived News

The year 1993 was a big one in the history of Holocaust remembrance. Forty-eight years after the concentration camps were liberated and World War II ended, it was the year the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened in Washington, D.C., and the Oscar-winning movie “Schindler’s List” premiered. Locally, it was the year the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE) was founded.
In 10 days, MCHE will officially mark its silver anniversary with a blend of celebration and commemoration on the indoor Cohen Community Stage at Starlight Theatre. While it is one of the newest Jewish agencies in town at 25, it has grown to become one of the premier Holocaust education organizations in the country.

In a move with the community’s best interests in mind, the Jewish Community Campus board of directors will turn over property management of the entire complex to The Jewish Community Center. In an agreement unanimously approved by both organizations’ operating boards, the new arrangement will go into effect Jan. 1, 2019.
The intention of the shift in property management responsibilities to The J is that the tenant agencies, members, guests and community will benefit through the economies of scale that The J offers. The J, in coordination with other campus agencies, will look for budgetary savings, overall space utilization and economical ways to improve the facility.

CNN political analyst and former U.S. presidential adviser David Gergen will be the featured speaker for Village Shalom’s 2018 Ages of Excellence Celebration on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza.
Beginning with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m., proceeds from Ages of Excellence benefit the continuing care retirement community’s Financial Assistance Program, which serves residents who have exhausted their financial resources and rely on the community for vital care.
“I am very proud to say we have never had to ask a resident to leave Village Shalom because of their inability to pay for the cost of care,” said Village Shalom President and CEO Matt Lewis. “The proceeds we raise through Ages of Excellence help us stay true to our mission, allowing all of our residents to live the highest possible quality of life.”

Ezra Smith, 21-year-old son of BIAV members Bruce and Karen Smith, recently received an ”Award of Excellence” bestowed by the chief rabbi of the IDF, Rabbi Ayal Karem, along with 18 additional soldiers from the Rabbinical Corps.
In an email Smith said he accidently learned of the award ahead of time, when the rabbi of ground forces visited his base.
“He accidentally let it slip that I was receiving the award. It caught me off guard, because I hadn’t at all been anticipating it. My direct commander, Rav Oz Kapach, then officially notified me around early July as well. He hadn’t been on base that week for the most part and had just checked his email, receiving confirmation that I was to receive the award.”
The award was presented on Aug. 2 at a gathering of the Rabbanut Corps with about 20 other soldiers from all across the Rabbanut Corps in different positions.

For the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy a sports team few in numbers is rather common. However, this is not a characteristic unique to HBHA. Soon after the 2018-19 school year began, the cross country coaches from Midland Adventist Academy and HBHA worked together to create a joint team. This gave the runners from Midland a chance to have a complete team when running with the HBHA athletes.
“I have been trying to grow the Endurance Sports program at Midland Adventist Academy since 2015,” said Midland cross country Coach Tristan Karr. Like HBHA, Midland often struggles to assemble entire sports teams, especially for cross country.
A similarity between the two schools is their observance of Shabbat. As Adventists, Midland celebrates a common day of rest with HBHA, therefore, both schools only participate in weekday races.

Writer-director Jon Kean documented the harrowing experiences of six female Holocaust survivors in his 2007 documentary “Swimming in Auschwitz.” A decade later, his sequel “After Auschwitz” focuses on the aftermath of liberation, emigration and ultimately, how the same six women rebuilt their lives in Los Angeles.
“I’d never thought of liberation as being a sad day, that’s how naive I was,” Kean told the Journal. “Liberation was awful for these women. That’s what drove me to make this film. I wanted to see the world through survivors’ eyes. When you’ve seen such tragedy and trauma you’d be forgiven if you gave up. But it’s the exact opposite with these women.”

The Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee (JCRB|AJC) has hired Gavriela Geller as its new executive director. She succeeds Marvin Szneler, who left JCRB|AJC last month after 20 years as its director. A Kansas City native and a 2009 graduate of Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Geller will become the fourth director to lead the organization in its 74-year history. JCRB|AJC advocates on behalf of the Kansas City Jewish community to eliminate injustice and discrimination at home and abroad.
“Working together with our neighbors to stand up against discrimination, hatred and divisiveness has never been more important,” said Geller, who will take over as JCRB|AJC’s director on Oct. 22. “The Jewish community has always acted on the premise that we’re stronger together than alone. I’m honored to join an organization with a long track record of standing up for these values in Kansas City.”

Sunday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Lawrence Jewish Community 917 Highland Dr., Lawrence, KS 66044

“Writing Jewish: Midrash, Myth and Miracle” is the second annual offering of the “Jews in the Midwest” speaker series. This one-day writing workshop plus symposium, put on by Jewish Studies at the University of Kansas, celebrates Jewish literature and creative writing in the heartland.
The morning writing workshop from 10 a.m.-noon is hosted by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg (2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate). The afternoon symposium, from 1:45– 5 p.m., will feature talks by Mirriam-Goldberg, Renee Perelmutter (associate professor of Jewish studies and Slavic languages and literatures at KU), and Rena Rossner (author, and literary agent based in Israel).
Both programs are free. The symposium is open to the public, but the writing workshop requires a reservation. RSVP to the writing workshop here:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-workshop-with-caryn-mirriam-goldberg-tickets-47568657134
For more information email or call 785-864-4664.

Writing Jewish based fantasy novels is Rena Rossner’s passion. She is coming to Kansas Sunday, Oct. 21, to be part of the “Writing Jewish: Midrash, Myth, & Miracle” writing workshop put on by the KU Jewish Studies Program in Lawrence, and she plans to share her passion there in a workshop entitled, “Don’t Ask Questions about Fairy Tales: Jewish Myths and Legends Re-Imagined.”
Rossner, who lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Jonathan, and her five children, was delighted to be invited to present at the program.
“Writing Jewish fantasy and bringing more Jewish fantasy to the world is a huge passion of mine,” she said. “I’m very excited to be able to speak about it at the symposium.”

“Hope, Not Fear: Changing the Way We View Death,” by Rabbi Benjamin Blech, Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 168 pp., $32 from Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Rabbi Benjamin Blech, professor of Talmud, has published a new book, “Hope, Not Fear: Changing the Way We View Death,” which explores the question of how to approach the end of one’s life.
The prompt for the book came from a diagnosis Rabbi Blech received that he had a fatal illness which gave him no more than the proverbial six months to live. Rabbi Blech is the author of many books on topics ranging from the Vatican and Hebrew words to all aspects of Jewish history, culture and spirituality. So, it was natural for him to pick up the pen and record his thoughts and feelings on a subject about which he had counseled many people over the course of a long career as teacher, guide and mentor.