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Over the past several years Jewish Family Services has established several programs to help older adults in the Jewish community maintain their independence. Now JFS is changing the scope, focus and name of the Jewish Senior Network — a program established by the Jewish Federation in 2001 which assists Jewish older adults and those with disabilities to live with dignity and autonomy in their own homes and communities — to better serve the needs of seniors in the community.

JSN, which has been run by JFS for the past several years and serves approximately 350 individuals, will now be called Care Management. Its main mission will continue to be to help older adults live in their own homes with as much independence as possible. Professional care managers, who will be social workers trained in working with senior adults, will help Care Management clients navigate the challenges of aging by providing connections to support and resources. Another goal of the revised program is to reduce admission to more acute levels of care including hospitals, assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities.

“Care Management will now be a core part of all those other services. In a lot of ways it’s a thread to help connect you from one program to another,” said Don Goldman, JFS executive director and CEO.

“Maybe you’re in one program such as JET Express or Help@Home and you think you need another as well. Or you are in one of our other programs and you’re having trouble thriving. Now we have a program to help you figure out if there is a program inside or outside JFS that you need to access.”

“If it turns out home is not the right answer for them, we help them with the transition as well,” Goldman continued.

As early as the end of this week, current JSN participants will receive a letter explaining the name change and alterations in services. Two of the most noticeable changes will be an increased number of care managers and a change in the way financial subsidies are doled out.

In January of this year, JFS piloted a new program by the same name. The pilot was led by Laura Gilman, who holds a master’s degree in social work and worked in both hospice and hospital settings before joining JFS.

“The pilot program, funded by the Gould Charitable Foundation, was for older adults outside the Jewish community who were struggling to navigate the challenges of aging,” Goldman said.

“The trial really was both to expand our services beyond the Jewish community in that area and also to investigate a modern, up-to-date outcome-based program because the JSN program was developed 13-14 years ago and needed some updating,” Goldman continued.

Goldman said the two programs — the trial program for the general community and the program for the Jewish community — will be merged and use the same staff. However they continue to be funded separately. The Jewish program will be funded by Jewish Heritage Foundation, Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, Menorah Legacy Foundation and Jewish Community Foundation.

Beefing up the program

Richard Odiam, LCSW, LSCSW, JFS director of clinical services, said the old JSN was more of a crisis management service because it was so large relative to the amount of staff assigned to it. Since 2007 JSN grew from approximately 150 clients to more than 350 clients now.

While the number of participants grew, the staffing for the program did not. Clients were receiving assistance, but their care was not being efficiently managed. For example, Goldman explained that in most cases a care manager was not able to figure out if the money being spent by JSN on a client was being spent on things the client actually needed to live independently.

“So the type of support that Laura has been able to give to those in the pilot program is much more ongoing and effective. She’s visiting them often, checking in with them, getting them resources and following up to make sure the resources are being taken advantage of. On the JSN side, we haven’t had staffing to do that and that’s what we want to do now,” Goldman said.

Implementing the change

Odiam said the next year will be a transition year for Care Management. Right now there are only 1.5 full-time equivalent staff members assigned to the program, meaning the care manager to patient ratio is about 1 to 200.

“Our reach has been broad but not very deep. We are looking at changing that with a deeper and more strategic engagement with the clients that we work with,” Odiam explained.

JFS plans to hire three additional care workers, two at the beginning of the year and one toward the end of 2014 or early 2015. That should make the case load more manageable with one care manager for every 50 clients.

“The intention is for care managers to be much more actively engaged with clients and be able to do more comprehensive assessments and develop more strategic plans to help them with the support and resources needed to live at home for as long as possible,” Odiam said.

Throughout 2014, care managers will meet with every one of its JSN clients to better assess their situation and transition them into the new Care Management program.

“We’re going to start with the most complex situations first,” Odiam said.

“We think these people can really use the support we haven’t been able to provide and we want to evaluate to see if they are in the right situation and how we can help,” Goldman added

Odiam explained that a care worker will complete a psychosocial and financial assessment of the client, and then initiate a service plan based on the client’s goals. He estimates services will be provided for three to six months to make sure supports are in place and goals planned together are achieved.

“Then we will taper off our services,” he said.

The pilot program using this model has been well accepted. Odiam reports that clients have reported the care management services have helped them navigate the complicated Medicaid system, reduce worry over their health and increase their ability to manage healthcare needs.

Reduced reliance on subsidies

A big change in the program will be how JFS provides financial assistance to Care Management clients. Up until now clients have been reimbursed for a portion of eligible medical expenses.

“This has grown a lot and become very expensive. It’s also a really passive system in the sense that it’s not something that’s planned together with a care manager around addressing specific needs,” Odiam said.

“We will still have financial assistance available through the program but now we will be much more individualized and targeted to leverage a particular outcome for a client,” he continued.

Explaining further, Odiam said that money can be given for something like shoe orthotics or a large ticket item such as a chair stair life that can help a client continue to live in a two-story home.

Care managers will also know where to find other subsidies, such as public entitlements or community resources, for clients.

“For example we will help someone get Medicaid services, which is not easy to navigate even for our care managers and just make sure they get all the forms and all the information they need and know what to do to re-up and stay active,” he explained.

JFS is also planning to add a volunteer component to the program.

“The role of volunteers will be critical. One area in which they can be helpful is that it can be really difficult for case managers to back out of a client’s life because often clients are really isolated and lonely. Having the option to have a friendly visitor engage with the client frees the case manager up to focus their efforts on another client,” Odiam said.

Goldman added that a trained friendly visitor volunteer still provides JFS with someone who can keep an eye out on the client if other needs arise, at which time the care manager will step back in to re-assess the situation.

“It they are a Help@Home member or a JET Express member, we also have a link to them. We try to create multiple ways to reach out and have links to clients that don’t need intensive support from our care managers,” Goldman said.

Right now Care Management is a completely free program. Plans call for that to change down the road as well, most likely sometime in late 2014 or early 2015.

“There are people who have means and as we raise the level of service we will move this to the same model of our other services, which means the services will be provided on a sliding scale. That means the people who do have means will get the same great service and they will help support the program,” Goldman said.

Goldman said the JSN program with 350 clients is larger than another program of its kind “that we know of” in the Kansas City community.

“It’s an area where the Jewish community is ahead of the curve,” Goldman said.

Award-winning pianist, producer, singer and composer Ben Sidran is having the time of his life and at age 70 has no plans to slow down. He says 70 is easily the new 60.

“I’ve been traveling and I continue to travel and I continue to perform and I’m enjoying all the different aspects of it,” he said in a telephone interview from Madrid. “Being 70 at the moment doesn’t appear to be any kind of obstacle to continuing.”

Sidran will be performing at White Theatre at the Jewish Community Campus at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15. He will perform some of his best music and talk about his new book, “There Was a Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream.”

“I’m going to be presenting stories, themes and ideas from the book … (which is) a history of Jewish popular music in America and I’ll be illustrating with songs from Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Bob Dylan, whatever, so it will be a combination of stories, history and music,” he said.

Sidran’s book, “There Was a Fire,” is selling very well, getting top reviews on Amazon.com. It is available in hardback, paperback and as an ebook. He wrote the book because when he was artist in residence at the University of Wisconsin, he put together a course tracing the influence of Jews on American popular music at the turn of the century, beginning with Irving Berlin, and on up to the 20th century with rap groups like the Beastie Boys.

He soon realized, however, that there was no one book he could use as a textbook for the course. Information was scattered in various places.

“So after I taught the course, I was aware that I really wanted to come up with a textbook that I wish I had had when I taught the course,” he said. “And that’s kind of what this is.”

Although Sidran is considered a jazz musician, he says there are fine lines to his performances and songwriting.

“For example almost 20 years ago now, I made a recording called ‘Life’s a Lesson,’ which is Hebrew liturgical music done by jazz musicians, but it also included Carole King and other people who are pop musicians. And the question is whether that was jazz or Jewish music. In my experience, it’s hard to separate it out,” he said.

Well known for his early session work with Boz Scaggs, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, Sidran went on to gain recognition as a solo artist and a producer.

Sidran has produced recordings for Van Morrison, Diana Ross, Michael Franks, Rickie Lee Jones, Mose Allison and Steve Miller, his University of Wisconsin college buddy, with whom he co-wrote the hit song “Space Cowboy.” He explained that “producing recordings” has various meanings.

“Record production can be any number of things and in each case it’s different,” he said. “For example, producing a record with Van Morrison, it must have been a decade or so ago, I did the arrangements, but I actually played the piano and helped with some of the gathering of materials and musicians. With the Diana Ross record, I organized all the musicians and all the music and supervised that in a recording studio. With the Steve Miller Band, I did all that, plus I wound up writing some of the songs. So it’s a project by project basis — you wind up doing different things.”

Sidran is also widely known as the host of the now defunct “Jazz Alive” series on National Public Radio, which received the Peabody Award. The show was cancelled due to lack of funding.

Perhaps many of his fans don’t know that Sidran holds a Ph.D. in American studies from Sussex University in England. He says American studies is a catchall phrase.

“I studied it out of the country because at the time in the late ’60s it was a very young field in this country, but in Europe they had been doing courses on America for years,” he said.

“It’s not American history so much as in my case it was sociology and literature, and my dissertation was written on studies of African-American music in the United States. So I was able to put together my love for the music with my industry and culture.”

Sidran, who is Jewish, says he is not affiliated with any particular Jewish denomination, but he and his wife of 47 years have observed the Jewish holidays with a group of people in Madison, Wisc., for 35 years.

“We have kind of our own community that exists quite happily alongside Reform, Orthodox and Conservative synagogues in Madison.”

He and his wife have a son in his mid-30s who is also a record producer in New York.

Sidran said his concerts are very close to his heart.

“I have a lot of fun doing it. There are a lot of interesting things people learn when they come that they don’t expect, so I always enjoy talking to people after the event,” he said. “I’m sure the people there will find something brand new when they come.”

Sidran’s latest book, “There Was a Fire,” will be available for sale in the lobby and he will sign copies after the concert.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.jcckc.org/bensidran or call 913-327-8054.

For more about Sidran visit his website, www.bensidran.com, where you can listen to his music, view photos, see videos of some of his performances and interviews, and much more.

WHO IS LEON WIESELTIER? — Leon Wieseltier will speak at the White Theatre on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Congregation Beth Shalom’s inaugural Rabbi Morris Margolies Award for Excellence in Jewish Education event honoring Ed Rose. Beth Shalom’s Rabbi David Glickman says Wieseltier could be the most important Jewish thinker you may never have heard of. Wieseltier is the longtime literary editor of The New Republic, the author of “Kaddish” (winner of the National Jewish Book Award), and is the 2013 recipient of the Dan David Prize from Tel Aviv University. This prestigious award is similar to the MacArthur Genius grants here in America. Rabbi Glickman heard Wieseltier speak in person at the AIPAC Rabbinic Forum last year and “loved it.” He suggests learning more about Wieseltier by searching for his name on You Tube. Call the synagogue at 913-647-7249 for more information about the event or to purchase tickets.

PICTURES OF HOPE — In August, photojournalist Linda Solomon was in K.C. launching Pictures of Hope at Sheffield Place. Through Pictures of Hope, 14 children at Sheffield Place had the opportunity to express their dreams through the medium of photography. Each child and a mentor took photos that express the child’s dreams for the future. These photographs have been made into beautiful greeting cards that Sheffield Place is selling to raise funds for the agency. With sponsorship funds from Chevrolet and Cable Dahmer Chevrolet, 100 percent of proceeds from the card sales benefit the agency. The cards are blank inside and make perfect holiday or greeting cards throughout the year. Cards may be ordered by visiting http://sheffieldplace.org/give-online/14643474.

“We are thrilled to invite the community to Purim Gala 2014 on Sunday, March 9, as we recognize longtime Israel activists, community leaders and businesspeople Bonnie and Matt Siegel with the Mordechai Award,” said Gala Co-chairman Howard Rosenthal. “Purim Gala has a history of recognizing individuals who have multi-dimensional commitments to the Jewish people, Israel and the greater Kansas City area.” Howard and Brenda Rosenthal are co-chairing the Gala, along with Jerry and Lisa Bernard.

Arriving here in 1984, the Siegels quickly became immersed in the Jewish community — volunteering at area synagogues, the Jewish Federation, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, special projects for Operation Exodus, Hadassah and Young Judaea.

Advancing the local business community, Bonnie was recognized as a recipient of the KC Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Top 25, State of Kansas: Women Owned Business of the Year, multi-time award winner for The Special Event Galas (an industry milestone), and numerous other business awards in her field. Matthew was vice-chair of the Kansas City Board of Trade and a liaison to the agricultural community in many positions. He also served as vice chairman of the KC Board Clearing Corp., and as a member of the KCBT board of directors and received the Jewish Federation’s Reba Strauss Young Leadership Award.

More recently, the two built on their love of Israel, experiences at Camp Young Judaea (where they met as youngsters) and visits to the Jewish homeland to emerge as activists and leaders for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Bonnie chairs the local AIPAC Council and serves on the organization’s National Advisory Council. She was recognized at its Washington Policy Conference in 2012 for her work in building support for AIPAC among lay people as well as members of Congress in both Missouri and Kansas.

“Purim is an inspirational time for all Jews and so we urge you to attend the Gala and experience for yourself a new sense of energy and excitement,” said Joseph Megerman, president of Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner, which sponsors Purim Gala. “As in the past, the evening’s focus will be on the lessons learned from Purim and its relevance to modern times, something that is especially meaningful given Iran’s growing nuclear capability and its threats to Israel and the West,” added Jerry Bernard.

For 16 years, the Gala has been the primary fundraising event for BIAV, a growing, inclusive modern Orthodox synagogue in Overland Park. Among the highlights this year will be the presentation of the Mordechai Award, which is presented to those who epitomize a devotion to the Jewish community or Israel as shown by Mordechai in the Scroll of Esther, which says that he “...sought the good of his people and was concerned for the welfare of all …”

“BIAV’s spiritual leader Rabbi Daniel Rockoff is very involved in both ritual and educational matters that affect the greater community well beyond our synagogue membership. And so we’re thrilled to serve our role in the diverse greater Kansas City Jewish community,” explained Lisa Bernard, “by honoring a couple who continue to have a far reaching impact through their advocacy, support and commitment for Israel, as well as for the viability and health of our hometown.”

“BIAV is one extension of the greater community; we are reliant on the community’s reciprocal support of shared resources and best practices,” Brenda Rosenthal added. “As Israel activists, generous supporters and committed volunteers, Bonnie and Matt exemplify the kind of leadership that draws people from across the religious and political spectrum in order to achieve what’s best for the overall Kansas City community, U.S. and Israel.”

The Siegels will join a distinguished group of community leaders who have been recognized with the Mordechai Award. Past recipients include: Rabbi Morey Schwartz, 1998; A. Robert Gast, 1999; Neil and Blanche Sosland, 2000; Merilyn Berenbom, 2001; Jerry and Lisa Bernard, 2002; Bernard H. Brown, 2003; Florence Melton, z”l, 2004; Cy Rudnick, z”l, and Esther Rudnick, 2006; G. Richard Hastings, 2007; Jim Badzin, 2008; The Helzberg Leadership Program, 2009; the Honorable Sam Brownback in 2010; Esther Levens and Vrem Levens, z”l, 2011; Todd Stettner in 2012; and BIAV’s Youth in 2013.

Invitations to Purim Gala will be mailed after the first of the year and the community is invited to attend.

This year the event will be held at 28 Event Space, located at 1300 W. 28th Street, just off Southwest Blvd., in Kansas City, Mo. Tickets cost $180 each. Patron categories are available as well and include additional tickets to the Gala. An ad journal also is being produced; the deadline for submission of ads is Feb. 1. For more information, to place a congratulatory ad or to add your name to the invitation list, contact Barry Rubin at BIAV: 913-341-2444.

For many it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For others, it’s the novelty of blending two holidays that have freedom as its central theme. Whatever the reason, finding a way to depict Thanksgivukkah was the challenge many young artists undertook in this, the 17th annual Chanukah Art Contest, sponsored by the Chabad House Center and The Jewish Chronicle.

This year’s grand prize winner of an iPad Mini is Mandy Unterhalter, a member of Congregation Beth Shalom and a fifth-grade student at Leawood Elementary School. Mandy’s sister, Sarah Unterhalter, and Nina Kulikov are the first-prize winners. Sarah received a $50 gift card from Target and Nina will get a $50 gift card from Michaels.

“Several entries this year took into consideration the convergence of Chanukah and Thanksgiving, which was nice because America was founded as a place where people can turn away from religious persecution and pursue religious freedom,” noted Chabad’s Program Director Rabbi Mendy Wineberg. “Of course we all know Chanukah was about a fight for religious freedom.”

Each of these three girls have been recognized in previous years for their artistic talents. Sarah was the grand-prize winner in 2010 and a first-place winner in 2012. Nina won the grand prize in 2011. Mandy was a first-place winner in 2010.

“It’s nice we had entries from people who had entered before. It shows persistence and we can see the art projects keep getting better,” Rabbi Wineberg said.

Eleven youngsters in grades kindergarten through eight entered the contest this year. Besides the winning Thanksgivukkah turkey, a pilgrim’s hat was also turned into a Chanukiyah. Projects were made from paint, clay, recyclables, crayons, fabric, Legos and other building pieces.

The Unterhalter sisters are the daughters of Bryan and Janet Unterhalter. Mandy said it was “so cool” to win the contest.

“It’s going to be exciting to have an iPad,” Mandy said.

Because Thanksgivukkah is such a rare occurrence, when Mandy toought it was a good idea to “combine Thanksgiving and the wonderful holiday of Chanukah.”

Mandy did that by crafting a light-up turkey menorah. The turkey’s body is made from Styrofoam, and its feet are wooden dreidels. The turkey’s feathers serve as candles and the flames are tiny lights.

Mandy said she loves to draw little turkeys and she’s always doing little crafts, so the idea for the “Thanksgivukkah Menorah” simply came to her. She came up with the concept and design all by herself and was able to execute it, too, except for installing the lights.

“My mom had to do the drilling part when we had to go through wood, but that was it,” Mandy explained.

The 11-year-old artist loves art.

“It’s really fun for me and it relaxes me,” Mandy said. “Thank you for choosing me to be the winner.”

When Nina was declared the winner two years ago, she entered a ceramic menorah. This time the Trailwood Elementary sixth-grader painted a family celebrating the Festival of Lights using acrylic paints. She chose the project because she “really likes the idea of being around your family at Chanukah and other holidays. I just really enjoy that moment and I wanted to show that in my painting.”

The 11-year-old daughter of Vicky and Andre Kulikov and a member of  Kehilath Israel Synagogue, Nina said the family in the painting, however, is not hers. She’s only been painting about a year and thinks art is a great way to express her feelings and her talent.

“It’s really the only thing I’m good at, so I aspire toward it. I like it. It lets me show my true colors,” Nina said.

The oldest of this year’s crop of winners, Sarah is a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Leawood Middle School. She became a Bat Mitzvah in August and chose to create a menorah using a technique called crayon art. She learned how to do it this past summer.

“I was looking at fun art projects and I found crayon art and I made a bunch of it. I decided maybe I could make a menorah out of it, so I did,” Sarah said.

She explained to make the project she first taped the crayons in the pattern she wanted, then hot glued them to the canvas. Once that’s done the canvas is flipped over and, by using a hair dryer, Sarah said you melt the crayon “downwards so it drips.” She used a cardboard strip to keep the drippings in a straight line for each candle.

This is the last year Sarah can enter the contest. She said she chose to enter the contest so often, “because it’s fun.”

“I like doing art that has to do with holidays,” Sarah said.

Last year when Mandy won an iTouch, she already had one. So her mother, Janet Unterhalter, said Mandy decided to donate her prize to Children’s Mercy Hospital so that children in the hospital could use it.

“I thought it was a very nice thing for her to do with her prize last year,” Janet Unterhalter said.

Janet thinks the contest is fabulous.

“Honestly they look forward to the contest every year. They look at the Jewish Chronicle and they say ‘Oh Mom, it’s time for the Chanukah Art Contest again.’ It gets them in the spirit for Chanukah. During the year they actually think about what they are going to do this year.”

“I see that religion can both unite us or divide us,” said Rabbi Brad Hirschfield. “Which it does is not about the religion, it is about the religious. Think of religion as a fire. It can warm your home and cook your dinner or it can burn down your house and kill everyone inside. It is up to us to decide how to use the fire.”

Rabbi Hirschfield will be the Caviar Scholar in Residence the weekend of Dec. 13-15. His theme for the weekend at K.I. is “You Don’t Have to be Wrong for Me to be Right – 21st Century Judaism.” He will make four different presentations dealing with pluralism, women and halachah, interfaith dialogue and the changes in religion in the United States.

The rabbi’s focus on interfaith dialogue and pluralism is the focus of his vocation, as he serves as president of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. CLAL “links Jewish wisdom with innovative scholarship to deepen civic and spiritual participation in American life,” as stated on its website.

While in Kansas City Rabbi Hirschfield said he wants everyone, “to share in my excitement about this moment in Jewish life.”

“I want them to trust the wisdom of our tradition to help us navigate this moment. And I want them to trust themselves to help themselves make this a moment of worth for the Jewish people ... I don’t just believe in Judaism I also believe in the Jewish people.”

Rabbi Jeffrey Shron, K.I.’s senior rabbi, said, “The challenge we have in the 21st century is to find paths that bring Jewish people together. Rabbi Hirschfield will teach us to focus on what unites us as Jewish people and not on what divides us, as well as ways to be more inclusive to all members of our synagogue and community.”

On Friday night, Rabbi Hirschfield’s topic is “The Rise of the Nones: Finding Our Place in the American Religious Landscape.”

“ ‘None’ is the fastest growing religious group in America,” said Rabbi Hirschfield. “That turns out to be an important fact for appreciating the role and place of religion and faith for Americans as a whole and for Jews in particular. Being a ‘None’ is not the same as being a nothing.”

The Friday night program begins at 4:30 pm with a Kabbalat Shabbat Service, followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Cost for dinner for members is $10 for adults, with children 12 and under free. Non-members pay $15 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Reservations are required.

Saturday morning Rabbi Hirschfield will discuss “Finding Faith Without Fanaticism: Building Contemporary Community.” Services will be followed by a Kiddush Luncheon. During the afternoon service, he will speak about the “Ethics of Diversity.”

“Religion speaks to fundamental human questions,” he said. “It can bring out the best of us, or create the ground for the worst of us. Sometimes this happens within the community and sometimes goes out to other groups.”

The CLAL president’s final program will be at 10 a.m. on Sunday, when he will speak on “An Orange on the Seder Plate? Women’s Roles in Traditional Jewish Liturgy.”

“I will explain why some people think there are some restrictions and others do not,” he said. “The problem is when we think our point of view is the only authentic one. Halachah in its traditional setting resists singular eternal answers. Good halachah is almost never one size fits all.”

The author of the book, “You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism,” Rabbi Hirshfield said the most important aspect of interfaith dialogue is “Nurturing the courage and creating the safety for people to go beyond mutual admiration and self-congratulations.”

He added: “Right now most interfaith conversation is all hearts and flowers. We need to build real relationships that allow us to talk about the stuff that is not so nice without destroying each other. I am more interested in how we can disagree with decency, than talking about what we already agree upon. What we already agree upon is beautiful. But how we deal with our disagreements is a matter of life or death.”

The programs are all open to the Kansas City community. For more information or to make reservations for the Friday night Shabbat dinner, call K.I. at 913-642-1880.

Allison Ullman says at this point in her young life, she’s interested in the health care field and would like to be a pediatrician someday — at least this week. “But it changes every week,” she chuckled. “I’m not sure; I’m exploring.” At school, she’s in a program called exploring health professions where she shadows at hospitals.

With all that she’s accomplished already, Allison has lots of options ahead of her. A senior at Blue Valley North, the 17-year-old was BBYO Council president last year; she was a JSU (Jewish Student Union) Scholar; is a Mustang Mentor and on the student council at BVN; engages in cross-country running; has been inducted into the National Honor Society; and is a Presidential Community Service Award recipient for 100-plus hours of community service per year.

Her class schedule is pretty impressive as well. She has writer’s workshop, AP calculus, AP literature, then AP chemistry, after which she shadows at the hospitals.

Allison has been involved in BBYO since the latter part of her eighth-grade year.

“They recruited me pretty young,” she said. “But I think I went into it not knowing I would become so involved. It was just something that looked like fun.”

She now realizes just how much she has gained from BBYO. In addition to the lifelong friendships she made, she has learned how to speak in front of groups of people and how to act like a leader in the Jewish community. During the second semester of her freshman year, she and four of her closest friends realized that their chapter, Saadia, was not doing very well, yet it had a lot of potential.

“So we stood up and took initiative. I ran for president and the election process is pretty intimidating at first, but I really learned a lot from it,” she said. “I learned how to write a speech; I know how to take it if you don’t win an election; how it’s important to move on and know that you can always try again. There are just a lot of second chances.”

She served as chapter president for two terms, which she said was a really challenging job.

“But I loved the challenge and I felt like I had learned a lot from my experience and I had developed into the leader that I wanted to be, so I felt like the next best step for me was to be council president because I could perhaps spread my knowledge and impact people.

“I just really wanted to help Kansas City pride as much as I could and that seemed like the perfect forum to do so.”

While Allison loves a challenge, little did she know just how much of a challenge last year would be. She developed a condition called gastroparesis and rumination syndrome, which messed up her entire gastrointestinal tract and made eating a struggle.

“I would throw up anything I would eat because my body would just reject it,” she said. “So I would go to the E.R. probably once a month just to get IV fluids because I would get so dehydrated.”

This year, her parents took her to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where she qualified for a two-week stay for treatment. So she’ll be leaving Dec. 2 for Columbus.

“I’m definitely getting a lot better. It’s like a virus so it just needs to run its course,” she said. “But it really made a big impact on my life and made life a lot more stressful. It got really overwhelming last year. This year I’ve scaled back a little bit on everything I’m involved in. I just want to get better before I go off to college because I won’t have the support of my parents helping me through it.”

Former BBYO Program Director Taly Yeyni, who nominated her for Salute to Youth, said, “She definitely has overcome some obstacles recently. I think she really has a positive attitude even when things are hard. That was a big thing I gained from her.”

BBYO has also helped shape Allison’s Jewish identity. She said she is now Jewish because she wants to be Jewish — not just because she was made to go to Hebrew school, become a Bat Mitzvah and be confirmed.

“I think it’s cool when you’re with your friends and you’re doing Shabbat on a Friday night,” she said. “I still like to go out and have fun with my friends, but also observe some Jewish rituals.”

She enjoyed exposing her culture to others and learning about other cultures at the Kansas City Interfaith Alliance’s Peace Walk. Last year was the first time BBYO participated in the peace walk and Yeyni said Allison was very active in the process.

“She really headed up and helped with that committee. She’s very organized and that was a really successful event. And they did it again this year, so that was a big thing that she did,” Yeyni said.

Allison said, “You’re really proud of your religion and your identity in a situation like that and it’s cool to be able to learn about other people’s too.”

Also last year, Allison attended the BBYO International Convention in Washington, D.C., and said she will likely attend this year’s convention in Dallas.

“A lot of people here don’t necessarily know what BBYO is if you’re not Jewish. But it was so cool being in a room where everyone knew what it was and everyone was passionate about it. You had so much council and region pride,” she said.

Allison has applied to four universities: KU, MU, Indiana and Wisconsin. While looking forward to college next year, Allison said it’s going to be sad to leave BBYO.

“I feel like I’ve just evolved so much as a person. I’ve always been a fun-loving, outgoing, spirited person but I feel like I’ve gained a lot of confidence and perhaps that confidence will relay over to my freshman year of college,” she said. “Maybe I won’t be as nervous as I was transitioning from middle school to high school. I definitely know more of who I am and that Judaism is really important to me, so I think I’ll for sure get involved in Hillel and just be sure to continue to lead a Jewish life. I’m not that religious, but I still observe the holidays.”

Allison and her parents, Susan and Lee Ullman, belong to Congregation Beth Shalom.

I love to read cookbooks and magazines with recipes in them. The hobby seems a little odd since as an empty nester I rarely cook anymore and when I do, I often stick with my tried and true favorite recipes. In the last several weeks four new kosher cookbooks have come across my desk and I’ve enjoyed browsing through them and choosing recipes I might like to try. In a word, all four of these books are simply beautiful! All would make great Chanukah gifts or additions to your own library. Even though I haven’t had time to actually cook even one recipe from each of these new books, I thought it was a shame not to tell you what they are about. Bete’avon!

“GLUTEN-FREE GOES GOURMET”

By Vicky Pearl (September 2013, Moznaim Publishing Co.)

It seems more and more people are allergic to or otherwise intolerant to gluten. With this new demand for easy-to-follow delicious recipes and meal ideas nutrition expert and consultant Vicky Pearl combines the healthfulness of gluten-free with gourmet tastes that happen to be kosher in “Gluten Free Goes Gourmet.” This first-ever comprehensive kosher gluten-free cookbook features more than 100 original gluten, dairy and corn-free recipes. Pearl hopes that this book will educate many about the virtues of “eating healthy and well.”

“Gluten Free Goes Gourmet” has something for everyone for any occasion and runs the gamut from Dips & Drinks to Stellar Side Dishes, Magnificent Mock Dairy to Marvelous Meat & Poultry and Breads and Desserts. Recipes include: Chicken Soup & Knaidlach; Brisket & Chicken Rollups; Baked Salmon in Marinade; Mock Cheese Blintzes; Creamy Eggplant Dip; Broccoli & Carrot Salad; Potato Kugel; and Moist Honey Cake, to name only a few.

Roll Cake

Yield 12 servings

This roll cake tastes as extravagant as it looks. The cream recipe makes enough icing for one and a half cakes, so I like to double it and put away two-thirds for use later on. (Vicky Pearl)

INGREDIENTS:

Cream:

1 cup trans-fat-free margarine, room temperature (2 sticks)

7 ½ oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 large eggs

¾ cup agave, xylitol, or sugar

1 tablespoon coffee granules

2 2/3 tablespoon water (2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon)

Cake:

3 tablespoon potato starch

2 tablespoon brown rice flour

2 tablespoon sweet rice flour

½ tablespoon. xanthan gum

7 large eggs, separated

6 tablespoon xylitol or granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:

For the Cream

1. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt margarine and chocolate together.

2. In a bowl using an immersion blender or in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together eggs, agave, melted chocolate, coffee granules and water. Cover and refrigerate cream for 2 to 3 hours or until firm enough to spread or for up to 2 days. If you are using agave, you may need to freeze cream for at least 4 hours or overnight to achieve a spreadable consistency.

For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 15x10-inch baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a bowl, stir together potato starch, rice flours, and xanthan gum. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually add xylitol. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add egg yolks. Add dry ingredients, mixing until well combined.

4 . Pour batter onto prepared baking sheet, spreading evenly.

5. Bake in center of preheated oven for 16 minutes or until well baked and slightly golden. Remove from oven and immediately invert cake onto a clean dish towel. Carefully peel off parchment paper and roll up cake, jelly-roll style.

6. Let cake cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes.

Assembly

1. Gently unroll cooled cake. Using a spatula, spread one-third of cream over entire surface. Roll it back up, jelly-roll style. Cut off ¼ -inch from both ends to trim cake; reserve or eat quietly!

2 .Frost surface of cake with another third of cream, freezing remaining third for another use. Chill before serving.

“Cooking Inspired”

By Estee Kafra’s (Feldheim Publishers; September 2013)

Food websites have become favorite destinations for home cooks to review and share recipes and cooking tips. Kosher recipes are especially popular whether Jewish or not and one of the fastest growing of the kosher websites is KosherScoop.com. Wanting to make cooking easier and more creative for home cooks, founder and cookbook author Estee Kafra has put together a collection of the best recipes from the site. “Cooking Inspired” is a sampling of the creative and reliable recipes that the site has become known for and will inspire home cooks to let loose their culinary creativity. More than 200 recipes are beautifully photographed and award-winning photographs are scattered throughout the book creating a visual feast for the eyes as well as the palate.

Recipes are divided into categories of inspiration such as: For the Five Senses, Family, Community, Roots, Nurture, Healthy Living, Holidays, Seasons, Special Occasions and Counter Cakes. Recipes are also easily identified as Gluten-Free, Passover-Friendly and seasonal.

Many recipes in the book have direct links to cooking videos on KosherScoop.com, providing home cooks with step-by-step visual instructions.

Pumpkin Soup

with Parsley–Sunflower Pesto

Gluten-Free - fall

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Every year we go apple picking and schlepp home more apples than we know what to do with. We also always buy a small pumpkin for soup. This is what we made with last year’s pumpkin. Pumpkins may be daunting because of their size, but are really simple to work with if you follow this technique. (Estee Kafra)

1 tablespoon oil (or more)

1 large pumpkin (about 3 pounds)

1 Spanish onion, chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon dried thyme

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or 1 Tablespoon chicken soup mix, msg-free, mixed with water)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pesto:

2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 very small clove garlic (or half of a big one)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Roasted sunflower seeds, extra-salted, for garnishing

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds with a large spoon. Rub the inside of the pumpkin with the oil and place face-down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. The pumpkin will have softened considerably. Scrape out the flesh and transfer to a large saucepan. (If it’s too hard to scrape the filling out, return the pumpkin to the oven and bake longer.)

Add all of the remaining ingredients to the saucepan. Pour in just enough stock to cover the vegetables.

Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook over medium heat for 45 to 60 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender. Use an immersion blender or ladle batches into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal “S” blade and purée. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pesto

Separate the leaves and small stems of the parley from the main stem. Discard the main stem. Place the parsley, sunflower seeds and garlic into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal “S” blade.

With the machine running, slowly pour the olive oil into the feed tub, combining the ingredients until the mixture is chopped and pasty. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Dollop the pesto on top of the soup and garnish with extra-salted roasted sunflower seeds.

(Recipe reprinted with permission from COOKING INSPIRED: Bringing Creativity and Passion Back into the Kitchen © 2013 by Estee Kafra, distributed by Distributed by Feldheim Publishers.)

Holiday Kosher Baker

By Paula Shoyer (Sterling Publishing Co., November 2013)

“The Holiday Kosher Baker” is a new and modern approach to Jewish holiday baking that includes both contemporary and traditional recipes, and more than 45 Passover desserts. It is organized into sections for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, Passover and Shavuot. Each holiday chapter contains easy, one-bowl recipes, as well as those that are fancier and involve multiple steps. This arrangement will help you find elegant desserts for evening and Shabbat/holiday dinners as well as the quick recipes you’ll need as snacks for your family and entertaining. Recipes for low-sugar, gluten free, vegan and nut-free treats are also included — something for everyone in the Jewish community. This is a must-have kosher baking cookbook for the holidays — and one that you’ll enjoy using throughout the year.

Shoyer presents traditional desserts to remind us of our grandmothers, but she has given her recipes a distinctively modern twist. Along with new versions of sponge cakes, blintzes, babkas, challahs and rugelach, you’ll find a chic Raspberry and Rose Macaroon Cake, a Salted Caramel Banana Tart Tatin, and an unusual take on upside-down apple cake.

PUMPKIN DOUGHNUTS

Makes 15

Pumpkin purée and classic pumpkin pie spices give these doughnuts a soft, comforting texture and taste. (Paula Shoyer)

¼ ounce (1 envelope; 7g) dry yeast

¼ cup (60ml) warm water

¼ cup (50g) plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided

2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup (80ml) soy milk

2 tablespoons (28g) margarine, at room temperature for at least 15 minutes

1 large egg

½ cup (120g) pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3–3¼ cups (375–405g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

Canola oil for frying

¼ cup (30g) confectioners’ sugar for dusting

IN A LARGE BOWL, place the yeast, warm water, and one teaspoon of sugar and stir. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, or until thick.

ADD THE REMAINING SUGAR, brown sugar, soy milk, margarine, egg, pumpkin purée, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and 2 cups (250g) of the flour to the bowl and mix on low speed with either a dough hook in a stand mixer or a wooden spoon. Add another cup (125g) of flour and mix well. Add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, and mix it in until the dough becomes smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl each time before adding more flour.

COVER THE DOUGH with a clean dishtowel and let it rise for one hour in a warm place. I use a warming drawer on a low setting, or you can turn your oven on to its lowest setting, wait until it reaches that temperature, place the bowl in the oven, and then turn off the oven.

PUNCH DOWN THE DOUGH by folding it over a few times and reshaping it into a ball. Then re-cover the dough and let it rise for 10 minutes.

DUST A COOKIE SHEET with some flour. Sprinkle some flour on your counter or on a piece of parchment paper and roll the dough out until it’s about ½ inch (1.25cm) thick. Use a 2½-inch (6cm) round cookie cutter or drinking glass to cut out circles and place them on the prepared cookie sheet. Reroll any scraps. Cover the doughnuts with the towel. Place the cookie sheet back in the oven (warm but turned off) or warming drawer. Let the doughnuts rise for 45 minutes.

HEAT 1½ inches (4cm) of oil in a medium saucepan for a few minutes and use a candy thermometer to see when the temperature stays between 365°F and 375°F (185°C and 190°C); adjust the flame so the oil stays in that temperature range.

COVER A COOKIE SHEET with foil. Place a wire rack on top of it and set it near your stovetop. Gently slide no more than four doughnuts, top side down, into the oil and fry for 1½ minutes. Turn the doughnuts over and cook another 1½ minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, letting excess oil drip off, and place on a wire rack to cool. Repeat for the remaining doughnuts. Dust with the confectioners’ sugar and serve. Store covered at room temperature for up to one day and reheat to serve.

(Reprinted with permission from “Holiday Kosher Baker” © 2013 by Paula Shoyer, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Photography by Michael Bennett Kress.)

Joy of Kosher

Fast, Fresh Family Recipes

By Jamie Geller (William Morrow, October 2013)

Jamie Geller, hailed as the “Jewish Rachael Ray” by the New York Times hasn’t always been kosher. Raised on take-out, it wasn’t until her mid-20s that she gravitated to Jewish observance. When she married her husband, she was dubbed the “Bride Who Knew Nothing” and was clueless about cooking. Joining his family meant celebrating more than 100 traditional holiday meals annually, complete with six-course homemade kosher dinners for the immediate and extended family. Determined to show everyone that she had what it takes and spurred to confront her culinary clumsiness, Geller didn’t just learn how to cook — she founded the Kosher Media Network and created cookbooks, magazines, a popular website and even a television show.

In her new book, Geller stresses that if she can put really good food on the table, anyone can. From sharing her stories of struggling in the kitchen to her triumph when hearing the highest praise of all, “More please, Mommy,” Geller takes her tied-and-true family meal recipes that come out right every time and makes them worthy of entertaining by including a “Dress It Up” option or an everyday “Dress It Down” option for each. The book is stocked with more than 100 authentically kosher recipes.

Cranberry Chestnut Challah Stuffing

Kosher Status: Meat

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 50 minutes

Total: 1 hour

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

In the dead of winter, my folks would drive us up to New York City from Philly. We’d catch a few Broadway shows and shop like crazy. We snacked on little bags of hot roasted chestnuts bought from a street vendor wearing fingerless gloves. The aroma of fresh roasted chestnuts in winter is my New York. So when I noticed bagged roasted and shelled chestnuts in a store recently — wham! I instantly saw Times Square … snow … funny gloves. There was no snow and no hot aroma when I opened the bag, but once baked in the oven with my stuffing, they were divine. (Jamie Geller)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 cup roasted and peeled chestnuts, quartered

1 cup dried cranberries

1⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh

parsley or 2 teaspoons dried

8 cups 1⁄2-inch cubes white or whole wheat challah

2 cups chicken broth, such as Manischewitz All Natural Chicken

Broth

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat.

Sauté the onions and celery until softened and the onion is translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the chestnuts, cranberries, sage and parsley and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the challah, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Remove from the heat. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until lightly browned, 10 minutes more.

Quick Tips

You can find bags of roasted and peeled chestnuts in the snack aisle at the supermarket. This recipe doesn’t require day-old or stale bread, although it’s a great use for any leftovers on hand. Challah, hot dog and hamburger buns, even sandwich bread — use it all out, mix ’n’ match it, cube it, and make stuffing or Spiced Apple Challah Kugel (page 94).

Make It Pareve

Use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.

Make It a Meal

Serve with Sour Mash Whiskey–Glazed Whole Roasted Turkey (page 168).

Pair It with Weinstock Red by W

A robust red wine would overwhelm this dish, so go for the soft fruity flavors in Red by W to complement the red berry flavors of the stuffing.

(Reprinted with permission from “Joy of Kosher

Fast, Fresh Family Recipes” by Jamie Geller, William Morrow.)

“My Basmati Bat Mitzvah” by Paula J. Freedman. (Amulet, 2013)

“Mira in the Present Tense” by Sita Brahmachari. (Whitman, 2013)

The Pew Research Center’s recent study of intermarriage and Jewish life will resonate with the parents of readers of both these recent books. In each novel the protagonist is a 12-year-old girl who has a Jewish father and a mother of Indian heritage. However, in each book, the manner in which these girls and their families deal with their mixed heritage is entirely different.

“My Basmati Bat Mitzvah” is about Tara Feinstein who is studying for her Bat Mitzvah, although she worries that having a Bat Mitzvah will definitively separate her from her Indian culture. Her mother has converted to Judaism, and the rabbi has assured Tara that the ceremony will not make her any less Indian. The novel itself is about blending cultures, putting chilies in the chicken soup, turning a sari into a dress for the Bat Mitzvah, watching Bollywood movies and developing an almost Talmudic relationship with the rabbi. What this book demonstrates is that a blended family can be utterly Jewish without turning its back on another culture. It is a great read for young teenagers.

“Mira in the Present Tense” describes an entirely different kind of intermarriage. It is set primarily in London, and any relation to Jewish religion, culture or history is virtually non-existent. On the other hand, there is a similar lack of relationship to Mira’s Indian heritage. This is a depiction of a totally secular, British family whose main cultural/religious activity is left-wing politics and protest. The novel presents an example of an inter-married family in which the couple does not adopt either of their cultures. The novel itself is a much better written book than “My Basmati Bat Mitzvah.” The author beautifully portrays the angst of a 12-year-old girl who is clearly different from her classmates and a natural target for bullies. Mira’s relationship with her beloved grandmother, who is dying of cancer, is drawn with amazing sensitivity. While the book’s only relationship to the Jewish world is Mira’s last name, Levenson, it is an example of what the Pew research warns about — a total loss of Jewishness. It does, however, portray a lovely family who make a life for themselves literally “in the present tense” with no past to interfere. This book will appeal to readers of all ages.

Andrea Kempf is a retired librarian who speaks throughout the community on various topics related to books and reading.

TELL YOUR STORY – Kansas City native Barbara Devinki stopped in to see me on a recent visit to the metro area. She lives in Rancho Mirage, Calif., now and runs her own company called Desert Family Video. She learned how to guide people through the story-telling process while working with Holocaust survivors as a volunteer for 15 years for Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. Barbara said when people sit down and tell their stories through these professionally edited video recordings, it is “a tremendous gift to their family. I think the greatest gift you can give is the gift of oneself. I know I really wish I had videos of all my grandparents’ stories.” Most of her work takes place in California, where many Kansas Citians spend their winters. She also travels here to see family several times per year and may be able to set up a Desert Family Video memory for your family during one of those frequent visits. She’ll sit down with you and do a pre-interview to make sure you are telling the stories you want to tell before the actual taping session takes place. To learn more about what she can do for you, contact her at 760-328-9921, her mobile phone 913-208-4949 or visit her website, desertfamilyvideo.com. She wants to help you make sure you, your story and your photos will live forever in the eyes and ears of your loved ones!

HBHA BATTLE OF THE BRAINS UPDATE — The HBHA students had a great time at the Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains awards ceremony last week. HBHA’s One World One Well team — already a top-10 elementary level finalist — was one of eight elementary school runners-up, earning $2,500 for HBHA STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs. Social media helped HBHA garner votes from friends and supporters from all over the community, country and the world. Mazel tov!

THE GREAT LATKE HAMANTASH DEBATE — First Congregation Ohev Sholom brought us KosherFest and now they are bringing us Kansas City’s first ever Great Latke Hamantash Debate. It will take will take place in Ohev’s Asner Social Hall from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8. Chanukah will be over, so hopefully you won’t be sick of latkes by then. Kansas City Debaters Hazzan Tahl Ben-Yehuda, Izzy Cernea and Bobbi Daren comprise Team Latke and will make their case extolling the merits of the latke, the delectable potato pancake eaten during the Chanukah holiday. Debaters Rabbi Beryl Padorr, Mike Kolb and Rabbi Herbert Mandl will make their case extolling the virtues of the hamantash, the delicious three-cornered pastry eaten during the Purim holiday. Ohev’s Rabbi Scott White will serve as the moderator and Maureen Kelts will preside as the judge.

Melanie Allmayer, Ohev Sholom congregant and chair of the event was inspired to bring this witty program to Kansas City to honor the memory of her beloved aunt, Dr. Ruth Fredman Cernea. Dr. Cernea, a cultural anthropologist, edited “The Great Latke Hamantash Debate,” a compilation of University of Chicago professors’ debate essays published in 2006. She also wrote “The Passover Seder: Afikomen in Exile, Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British Burma” along with other scholarly articles. Reservations are requested and there is an admittance charge. For more information, call 913-642-6460 or email . To catch a glimpse of some past Great Debates, type in youtube great latke hamantash debate. It goes without saying that latkes and hamantaschen will be served to help you decide!