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The cover of Living Under Water e-zine by Andi Arnovitz. (livingunderwater.org)

COVER ARTIST 

— Several readers made it a point to make sure we knew KC native Andi Arnovitz is mentioned in the January/February 2020 issue of Hadassah Magazine. The internationally acclaimed artist moved to Israel in 1999 and is mentioned in Hadassah Magazine for her role with the Living Under Water project, which culminated in a 60-page e-zine. The e-zine was edited and created by Arnovitz and Shaul Bass. The project was created under the auspices of Beit Venezia — A Home for Jewish Culture and is described as “the tangible result of a three week artist’s residency in Venice 2018” where, according to Hadassah magazine, they explored the Jewish response to climate change. The cover of the e-zine, described as “an ark sinking below the water, a stark commentary on the rising sea levels that are one symptom of climate change,” is an Arnovitz creation as is the back cover. To learn more about the project or to download the e-zine, visit livingunderwater.org.

Capt. Dana Hall (courtesy)
CHECK OUT TIMES OF ISRAEL — In case you missed it, the Times of Israel recently featured BIAV member Capt. Dana Hall in an article headlined, “From Ebola to hurricanes, mom in uniform keeps people safe while keeping kosher.” The article, written by Cathryn J. Prince, was published Jan. 12 on timesofisrael.com and, I presume, the print edition of the Israeli newspaper as well.

The Chronicle featured Hall in an article in September 2017. That article is still available at kcjc.com.

 

The newest member of the Mayer family, Nathan Benjamin, arrived on Saturday, Jan. 4. Also in this family portrait are big brother Mason Alexander and parents Brian and Tiferet Mayer. (Melissa Rieke photo)
Tiferet and Brian Mayer welcomed the community’s first bundle of joy, and their second son, on Saturday, Jan. 4, at Overland Park Regional Medical Center. He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 21 inches long. He has light brown hair and blue-gray eyes.

Bradley W. Orsini, senior national security adviser for the Secure Community Network, was the featured speaker at the Jewish Federation’s Annual Meeting Jan.8. (Ryan Bruce photo)
After the tragedy in the Kansas City Jewish community in April 2014 when three people were murdered on Jewish sites by a convicted neo-Nazi, the community learned the catch phrase “see something, say something.” Last week Bradley W. Orsini, senior national security adviser for the Secure Community Network (SCN), took that a step further when he added two more words: do something. 

Tiberius Klausner (Photo by David Sosland)
Tiberius (Tibor) Klausner’s story of Holocaust survival, followed by his incredible journey across the ocean to study music at Julliard may sound like fiction, but the story is real. His perseverance, commitment to Judaism, and devotion to music are just a few of the reasons Klausner, of blessed memory, became Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy’s choice as this year’s Civic Service Award honoree. The posthumous award will be accepted by Klausner’s family: his wife, Carla, and three daughters, Danielle, Mirra and Serena.  

Gavriela Geller
The Wexner Foundation, in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation, recently announced Class 4 of the Wexner Field Fellowship. Fifteen outstanding professionals, including Jewish Community Relations Bureau|AJC Executive Director Gavriela Geller, were selected through a highly competitive process for this three-year intensive program. Utilizing the diverse, cohort-based learning that is the hallmark of The Wexner Foundation programs, Field Fellows will be exposed to different approaches to leadership and tools for addressing pressing issues in the Jewish community, while being integrated into The Wexner Foundation’s vast network of more than 3,000 professional and volunteer leaders in North America and Israel, including the 30 outstanding professionals who are currently in the Field Fellowship Program, as well as 25 alumni.

KU Chabad’s JewishU was recognized by the Jewish Federation last week as one of its Programs of the Year. Shown are Jewish Federation President and CEO Dr. Helene Lotman (from left), KU Chabad Co-Directors Nechama and Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, student Sam Matsil and Federation Chair Michael Abrams. (Ryan Bruce)
JCRB|AJC Board President Gary Wolf (center) and its Executive Director Gavriela Geller show off the organization’s Program of the Year Award while Jewish Federation Board Chair Michael Abrams (left) looks on. (Ryan Bruce)
Two outstanding programs were recently recognized for their impact on the Jewish community at Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s Annual Meeting. This year’s Community Program of the Year award winners are KU Chabad’s JewishU and JCRB|AJC’s Unity Seder. 
“Programs like these are critical to the vibrancy and strength of our community,” said Dr. Helene Lotman, president and CEO of Jewish Federation. “We are proud to work in partnership with organizations like KU Chabad and JCRB|AJC to support our mission of sustaining and enhancing Jewish life.”

Hateful acts rock our world. The recent church shooting in White Settlement, Texas, and the machete deaths at a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, New York, shattered the holiday season. 

Hundreds of hate crimes were reported last year according to the FBI and the numbers continue climbing. Anti-Semitism has reached new highs and hate speak is more common than ever permeating social media and beyond.

They are all reminders of the hate crimes that took four innocent lives here in the Kansas City metropolitan area outside of Jewish facilities in Overland Park and an Olathe sports bar.

Faith Always Wins Foundation (FAW), a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization, is determined to make a difference through acts of kindness and interfaith dialogue. The organization’s three pillars are faith, kindness and healing and it is working to make a difference.

SevenDays® Make a Ripple, Change the World is the organization’s annual weeklong series of experiences demonstrating how hatred, bigotry and ignorance can be overcome by kindness and understanding each other. 

SevenDays® 2020 will take place for the sixth year in the Greater Kansas City area Tuesday, April 21, through Monday, April 27.  

SevenDays® 2020 continues the healing journey following the murders that took the lives of Dr. William Corporon, his grandson Reat Underwood and Teresa LaManno outside of Jewish facilities in April 2014. The three lost their lives at the hands of a convicted Neo-Nazi shooter. 

Determined to turn tragedy into triumph, family members and friends joined together to create something positive to overcome this senseless hate crime. 

Sponsored by Faith Always Wins in partnership with several organizations, SevenDays® provides opportunities encouraging all people to increase kindness through knowledge, mindset and behaviors.

“While our families will always remember, we are also healing and moving onward with passion,” said Mindy Corporon, Reat’s mother and Dr. Corporon’s daughter. “Our passion is to help others through their own personal tragedy, to explore another faith and to find commonalities with their neighbor or coworker through acts of kindness. We are all human,” Corporon said. 

“The majority of us do not want violence, terrorism or even sarcastic remarks about our religion, so let’s continue the conversation. We want to enjoy the world in which we live and leave it in a better place. We can do this through understanding commonalities and SevenDays® provides the platform for this engagement.” 

Jim LaManno, husband of Teresa LaManno, said SevenDays® is more important now than ever. 

“We strive to make things better for all the other families who have lost loved ones to senseless violence. “We must remain steadfast and redouble our efforts to spread kindness and give joy and peace to all through SevenDays® and every day,” LaManno said.

SevenDays® is under the leadership of Mindy Corporon and Director Jill Andersen, who has been involved since the beginning. The SevenDays® Planning Committee, which includes several members of the Jewish community, consists of a diverse group of dedicated volunteers who work for months out on the annual event. 

SevenDays® of Kindness

Everyone has the power to make a ripple and change the world — and that’s the focus of SevenDays®. Each of the SevenDays® has a special theme — Love, Discover, Others, Connect, You, Go, You and Onward — reflecting the overall spirit of the effort. Beginning with Tuesday, April 21 — Day One — the week kicks off with a special interfaith program and awards ceremony at St. James United Methodist Church. Other events include a diversity dinner at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City, a weeklong blood drive in partnership with the Community Blood Center, an interfaith workshop and Ramadan Iftar at the Islamic Center of Johnson County and a day focused on self care in partnership with major sponsor AdventHealth. One 2020 highlight will be a conversation with Wes Hamilton, a gun violence survivor turned founder of Disabled But Not Really. In conversation with Mindy Corporon, Hamilton will share his story of healing, love and his newfound passion for helping those with disabilities. Hamilton, as seen on Season 4 of Netflix’s popular “Queer Eye” series, will recount the aftermath of a shooting that left him paralyzed and depressed, but which he faced head on to become the award-winning athlete and father he is today.

Each day of SevenDays® features special activities — everything from speakers and films to workshops and hands-on community service projects. Suggested kindness activities for the community are also available. The annual Kindness Walk will be held on Monday, April 27, at the National World War I Museum and Memorial. The walk will circle the grounds of the memorial before a celebratory conclusion. SevenDays® partners with 14 area charities showcasing the work they do to make Kansas City a kind community. Registration for the walk will be open at GiveSevenDays.org.

The entire community is invited to participate in SevenDays® events, both digitally and in person. Events will be held at various locations throughout the metropolitan area. The SevenDays® team of volunteers has created resources for educators, learners, business and organizations allowing for participation at each person's desired level of engagement. Materials are available on givesevendays.org and all ages are encouraged to participate. 

Community groups and organizations are invited to create their own activities and share them through SevenDays® social media sites using #givesevendays and #betheripple. Information about the themes, activities and sponsored events will be continuously updated on the SevenDays® website, GiveSevenDays.org as well as the Facebook page @GiveSevenDays.

SevenDays® Buttons & kindness competitions

A signature of SevenDays® is its colorful, creative buttons with designs reflecting each day’s theme. For a number of years, a button-design contest took place inviting area high school students to submit their artwork for consideration. Designs from eight different students were chosen for the 2020 SevenDays® buttons, which are now in production. Each student will receive a $500 award for their artwork. 

One act of kindness has the power to start a ripple and change the world. Applications are now available for high school seniors for the annual SevenDays® Make a Ripple, Change the World Scholarship competition. Seniors are encouraged to create a project of kindness addressing one or more of the SevenDays® themes, execute it and submit an essay about its impact. Five $1,000 scholarships will be awarded for higher education tuition. Full details can be found on the SevenDays® website. The submission deadline is March 18.

SevenDays® sponsorship opportunities are available and welcome for each themed day, activity, as well as for the decorative button distribution, scholarships and awards to the participating students.  

Numerous volunteer opportunities are available for SevenDays®; those interested are urged to regularly check the website for details and registration. There are also opportunities for area businesses and organizations to become involved with SevenDays®.

SevenDays® Pre-events

Kindness is a form of art, and all of us our capable of it. Two pre-events will focus on the artistic side of kindness. Artwork from students who entered the button design competition — as well as the winning designs — will be part of the two-week SevenDays® Kindness Student Art Show at the Kansas City Public Library Plaza Branch. Students from across the metro will be represented in the display opening to the public Feb. 18. The library is producing a special bookmark to coincide with the show as well as creating a special section of books on the topics of kindness and interfaith.

“The Art of Kindness” Exhibit will take place at the Buttonwood Art Space, 3012 Main, Kansas City, Missouri, Feb. 3-April 23. This juried art show will feature works from artists in the region with a special First Fridays event from 6-9 p.m. March 6, 6-9 p.m. Proceeds from the sale of art will benefit the Faith Always Wins Foundation, which sponsors SevenDays®.

While most SevenDays® events are free of charge and open to the public, there is a participation fee for the Kindness Walk on April 15. The fee does include a commemorative T-shirt; other SevenDays®-themed items are also available through the website’s shop. 

For more information about SevenDays®, contact Ruth Baum Bigus, (913) 707-7746 or at . Additional information is also available at www.GiveSevenDays.org.

 

Co-Chairs Rick Hellman and Rev. Dr. Robert Lee Hill welcomed people to the annual MLK Interfaith Service held Sunday, Jan. 12. This is the first year Hellman, a member of the JCRB|AJC advisory board, has served as the event’s co-chair. He takes over from his mother, Judy Hellman, who co-chaired the event for more than 30 years.
MLK REMEMBRANCE — Despite the Chiefs game and the weather, the annual MLK Interfaith Service on Sunday was well-attended. Every year, this event kicks off one of the largest week-long celebrations in the country in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Co-Chairs were Rev. Dr. Robert Lee Hill, minister emeritus of Community Christian Church, and Rick Hellman, JCRB|AJC advisory board member. The event included musical performances by Lara Steinel, Laura Payne and Michelle Cox; Kansas City Boys and Kansas City Girls Choirs led by Ah’Lee Robinson; Trio Aztlan; and Millie Edwards accompanied by Tim Whitmer. The keynote speaker was Rev. Dr. Angela Sims, the first female president of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, New York. SCLC President Rev. Dr. Vernon Percy Howard, who is now a JCRB|AJC advisory board member, gave the opening remarks. Rev. Dr. Bobby Love gave the closing benediction.
KOL HAKAVOD — Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City got the secular new year off on the right foot by celebrating the “power of the collective” as Chair Michael Abrams so aptly put it at its annual meeting. Approximately 160 people filled the White Theatre at the Jewish Community Campus to learn about the Federation’s work and its accomplishments over the past year. Among the highlights was raising $6.5 million in restricted and unrestricted funds allowing Federation to provide funding to 21 different organizations.
As the evening, chaired by Lisa and Steve Ruben, drew to a conclusion Federation President and CEO Dr. Helene Lotman noted that the Federation’s work as the community’s convener is never ending.
“As long as there are Jews in need, as long as there are Jewish children to educate and Jewish souls to nourish, our work will never be finished,” she said. “The generations before us laid the strong foundation on which we stand. It is our responsibility to build on that foundation, to adapt it for 2020 and beyond, and to leave it stronger for the next generation. Thank you for being a part of this community and for your commitment to this work. I look forward to collaborating with you.”
SECURING OUR FUTURE — One of Federation’s themes for its annual meeting was securing our future. I had the opportunity to meet the featured speaker, Brad Orsini, prior to his presentation. One of the things I learned from that conversation with him and our own Director of Community Security Chuck Green is the importance of being prepared for the unthinkable — an active shooter event. I realized I am not prepared and I’m guessing many of our readers are not prepared either. Is it better to run, hide or fight? These security experts said every situation is different, but training can help people be prepared to make those split-second decisions. Here’s my mini editorial: If your congregation has not scheduled an active shooter training, urge leadership to do so immediately. Orsini and Green strongly believe training saves lives. And if you’re one of those people who believes lightning never strikes twice, think again. In these contentious times, we can never know when an unstable individual will decide to attack.
Correction
he wrong date for Drew Liss was published on The Chronicle’s list of Bar/Bat Mitzvah dates for 2020 in the Dec. 26, 2019, issue. The correct date for Drew Liss’ Bar Mitzvah is Saturday, Nov. 7, at Congregation Beth Shalom.

 

Steve Rose
By Barbara Bayer
Editor
Steve Rose is now the sole owner of The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle, which is celebrating 100 years of providing news and information to the Jewish community this year. The Chronicle will no longer be owned by MetroMedia, which Rose has co-owned with his nephew David Small.
Barbara Bayer will continue to serve as the paper’s editor and Judy Lanes will remain its account executive along with Robbie Small and Rebecca Rose Devereaux.
The Chronicle has moved its offices to 10650 Roe Blvd., Suite 141, Overland Park, KS 66207-3907. Office hours are by appointment only. The main phone number is now 913-235-4474. 
Rose becomes the ninth owner of The Chronicle. The Rose family first became associated with the paper in May 1964. At that time Stan Rose, Steve Rose’s father, became partners with Chronicle Editor and Publisher Milton Firestone. Following Firestone’s death in March 1983 Sun Publications Inc., owned by the Rose family, acquired all of The Chronicle’s stock. In 1998 Steve Rose, who by then was sole owner of Sun Publications, sold the company’s publications, including The Chronicle, to a New York investment group. Rose later bought it back, in 2010, as part of MetroMedia, a custom publisher.
Since 1920, the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle has provided its readers with Jewish news and opinion from a variety of perspectives — local, regional, national and international. The paper is mailed to subscribers each week.

Contact The Chronicle

Main phone number: 913-235-4474

The Chronicle has moved its offices to 10650 Roe Blvd., Suite 141, Overland Park, KS 66207-3907. Office hours are by appointment only.

Contact The Chronicle by email at .

 

Morgan Fasbinder
Each year, outstanding Kansas City Jewish educators are nominated for the honor of being the Grinspoon Educator of the Year. This award recognizes excellence in teaching Hebrew and Jewish studies.
This winner for 2019 is Morgan Fasbinder, a teacher at Congregation Beth Torah’s Weiner Religious School. Fasbinder was to be presented with the award at Jewish Federation’s 2020 Annual Meeting Jan. 8. The award comes with $2,000 to give educators additional access to professional development so they can continue to enhance their work in the field.
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