Vic Bergman is a very modest man, describing himself as “a working class kid from New York, (the) first college graduate of the family.” That “working class kid” recently was named Best Lawyer in the category of product liability for Greater Kansas City.

A practicing attorney since 1975, Bergman has been on the Best Lawyers list since 1987, but this is the first time he was named “Best of the Best” in his category.

“I do the broad range of personal injury cases, from trucking accidents to medical malpractice, so it was odd to get named just for product liability. In fact I have not done very much products work the past couple of years, but am really appreciative of the honor which I take as a recognition of a body of work,” said Bergman about his honor.

An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo (where he met his wife, Susan), Bergman received his Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1975. He was a member of all three of the law school’s honor societies: Order of the Coif, Law Review and Moot Court.

Immediately after graduation, he accepted a job with Schnider, Shamberg & May, Chtd., the predecessor of Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman, Chtd., where he was made a partner in three years.

“I consider myself very lucky,” Bergman added. “The firm was well established and hired me right out of law school. Even though I had no other offers, it was the job I wanted the most.” And he’s remained there, in the firm that gave him what he considered a “golden opportunity.” The firm’s area of practice — the representation of people who are catastrophically injured and families who have lost loved ones as the result of wrongdoing — is rewarding to Bergman in so many ways, and true to Bergman’s 1960s anti-establishment values. “I get to pick my clients, and go fight against the big boys, so I am pretty comfortable with the merits of my cases.”

Bergman, who worships at both BIAV and Torah Learning Center, said he’s grateful for all he’s learned from the firm’s partners.

“There’s an interesting story behind the founders of the firm,” he explained. “Founders Joseph Cohen, Charles Schnider and John Shamberg, all Jewish, were nationally recognized trial lawyers. In fact, Joe and Charlie were among the group of lawyers who started what became the American Trial Lawyers Association! The area of plaintiff’s personal injury practice, at the time, was dominated nationally by brilliant Jewish trial lawyers who had not been given jobs or opportunities by the then-established firms.”

Bergman added, “John Shamberg told me in his dramatic way that the establishment attorneys would not even walk on the same side of the street with plaintiffs lawyers. The representation of the injured, the widow and the orphan is so consistent with biblical Jewish values that it was a natural place for Jewish lawyers who were outsiders to gravitate with their great skills. Today, the decidedly Jewish domination has ended as the plaintiffs practice has a much broader appeal.”

Shamberg joined the firm in 1948 and helped bring it to new levels of sophistication and success. The firm was reorganized under the name of Schnider, Shamberg & May in the 1960s. According to the firm’s website (www.sjblaw.com): “This was during the golden age of the development of tort law. During this time Charlie Schnider and John Shamberg pioneered trial techniques and learned and taught with other master trial lawyers all over the country. They earned a reputation as a regional powerhouse plaintiff’s personal injury firm.”

Lynn Johnson joined the firm in 1970 and Bergman in 1975. Both were trained and mentored as trial lawyers by Schnider and Shamberg. John Parisi joined in 1989, and in 1995, the firm name changed to Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman.

Bergman described the founders of the firm as being “legal giants, dedicated to represent individuals and families who experienced catastrophic personal injury, economic loss or death. Despite often facing powerful companies or individuals, these attorneys battled on behalf of their clients, in courtrooms throughout Missouri and Kansas.”

It’s that tradition of representing people who feel small and powerless that has given the law firm — and Bergman — such a respected reputation among attorneys. According to the Best Lawyers website, “Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. For three decades, Best Lawyers® lists have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere. The 18th edition of The Best Lawyers In America (2012) includes 43,629 attorneys in 135 practice areas, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and … is based on more than 3.9 million evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.”

Bergman is most well known for handling personal injury “cases that involve severe injury or death. For more than 30 years, he has had a special interest in representing children and their families in obstetrical malpractice and other birth injury cases. In court he’s proven the connection between medical malpractice around the time of birth and cerebral palsy and death,” according to the firm’s website.

Some of his cases have set legal precedent. Again, from the firm’s website: Bergman was “a national figure in the legal fight for women who were injured, and for the families of those killed by Toxic Shock Syndrome. In court, he proved the correlation between Toxic Shock Syndrome and the use of highly absorbent tampons. Proctor & Gamble paid an undisclosed settlement to the victims and their families in these cases.”

Bergman’s other well-known cases include verdicts against Colt Industries Operating Corporation, where he “proved the design of the Colt Single Action Revolver, which goes back to 1873 — ‘The Gun That Won The West’ — was defective and unreasonably dangerous.”

And he represented Hall of Fame Sprint Car driver Doug Wolfgang against a racetrack and the sponsoring organization, for “failure to provide adequate fire and rescue services for drivers. The case had major implications for the industry.”

Partner Lynn Johnson, who also was named as “Best of the Best” in the field of medical malpractice this year, said of his partner and colleague, “Vic and I have been together as partners for nearly 37 years and I consider him to be a great and fast friend and one of the very best trial attorneys in the country.”

He added, “We are both very proud of our law firm and our law firm’s founders’ history, tradition and steadfast reputation for representing every client with respect, dignity and our very best effort regardless of the value of the client’s case. Vic’s tenacity, skill, determination, work ethic and respect for every client makes him, in my opinion, a very special person and trial attorney! I am proud to be his partner and look forward to many more years of practicing together in our firm.”

Bergman, who is a member of the Bar in both Missouri and Kansas, is a member of both states’ Trial Lawyers Association as well as the American Trial Lawyers Association, (now known as the American Association for Justice). He was inducted in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1998, limited to the top 1 percent of trial lawyers nationwide. He also is a charter member and past president of the Kansas (Earl E. O’Connor) Inn of Court and was elected five times to the Tenth Judicial District Nominating Commission.

Just as King Herod commissioned the Western Wall as part of a Temple renovation in 37 BCE, the Child Development Center at the Jewish Community Center now has a commemorative wall of its own, enriching its first expansion in more than 20 years.

A stunning representation of the Western Wall was just completed, and will appear alongside school upgrades that will boost student capacity from 175 to 225, a leap of nearly 30 percent. To further connect children and families to this international treasure, CDC parents were recently invited to become a Friend of the Kotel for $360. This contribution allows for names of family members to be designated on individual stone plaquettes above the wall.

Complementing the CDC’s educational mission, the wall replica measures more than 6 feet tall by 15 feet wide. Envisioned by a team led by CDC Director Maxine Benson, the project has been greeted with excitement and anticipation by CDC students and faculty.

“The Kotel in the CDC has long been a dream,” Benson said. “With all of the other exciting changes, this is the perfect time to turn the dream into reality. It’s the inspiration for a new Judaic curriculum that includes the learning areas of social studies, science, math, literature, music and art, and will add another level of excellence to the CDC early childhood experience.”

Teacher Linda Rubin said the wall can take the children back in time.

“It will be a wonderful follow-up to the discussions we have about Israel. We can use our senses to see and feel the wall and pretend that we are in Jerusalem while smelling and tasting Israeli foods. How wonderful for our children to be able to imagine what it is like to be in front of the Kotel in Jerusalem,” Rubin said.

To insure the replica wall’s authenticity, the CDC turned construction over to local resident and Israeli native Sam Nachum.

Together with his son, Ben, Sam has imported and installed Jerusalem Stone from Israel at residential and commercial projects since 1995.

The CDC’s wall originated as white stone from Hebron. From that supply 55 individual stones were crafted, many nearly 18 feet by 18 feet and weighing about 40 pounds.

According to Ben Nachum, the craftsmen at Jerusalem Stone chose a specific section from the actual Kotel, and then used old-world techniques including chiseling and sandblasting to duplicate the original’s unique contours and textures. Each stone is expertly fitted together — and like the original wall — provides crevices in which to insert handwritten notes.

Adhering to such traditions will only enhance the learning experiences planned for the children.

“The beauty of the Jerusalem stone is a joy to the eyes. The Kotel will become an integral part of our holiday celebrations and the backdrop for Shabbat and Havdallah,” Benson said.

The addition of the wall adds a new educational dimension to the CDC.

“The wall will not only enhance our Judaic curriculum, but will be an effective tool to teach concepts of shape, size and other math concepts. The children can replicate the wall using a variety of materials,” noted teachers Julie Gregory and Tanya Hadzhieva.

CDC students are already enjoying its presence at the facility.

“It is important for people to pray to God for peace, love and family,” said 5-year-old Noah Bergh, a recent CDC “graduate.”

Anyone can become a Friend of the Kotel and designate a stone plaquette for $360. Alumni and others whose families have benefited from a CDC education or relationship are especially encouraged to be a part of this permanent landmark, said Jacob Schreiber, JCC executive director. Pictures and progress of the Kotel project can be viewed at facebook.com/JCCChildDevelopmentCenter.

CDC enhancements are scheduled for completion in time for the next school year in August and will help alleviate the annual enrollment waiting list. For more information, go to jcckc.org, click on the Youth and Family tab, and then click on Child Development Center.

Sid Shachnow isn’t your average retiree. The Army major general, who led the Green Berets for 32 years, is also a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania more than 60 years ago.

Shachnow will be at the Kansas City Public Library’s Central branch at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, to talk about his memoir, “Hope and Honor.”

“I never talked about my early life experiences, which is about normal. A lot of people who had a traumatic event in their life don’t want to talk about it,” he said.

After dealing with heart problems and cancer, Shachnow decided to write down his experiences with the encouragement of his family.

“At first I wrote about 100 pages. We were going to take it to Staples or Kinkos to reproduce for the family. (Then) a lady named Jann Robbins, who knew the outline of the story, thought it would make a good book,” Shachnow said.

The book follows his life, from the concentration camp in Kovno, Lithuania, at age 7 to his immigration and assimilation into American society. He was reunited with his mother, father and brother after a journey across post-war Europe on his own at age 10.

“(Assimilating) was a challenge for me. I had never been to school — I couldn’t read, couldn’t write,” he said.

At 21, he met his future wife, Arlene, who was four years younger and Catholic. Later, the story segues to his military career.
His outlook on the life story he presents in the book is this: “Perseverance and tenacity are very important in life. Regardless of how bleak things are, if you work hard and are committed, things will work out for you,” he said.

Shachnow will be in Kansas City for programming at the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The college has been developing programming with the Kansas City Public Library for several years, and this relationship led to Shachnow’s upcoming talk about his book.

“The college foundation called us and thought that Maj. Gen. Shachnow would resonate with a heartland audience,” said Henry Fortunato, director of public affairs for the library. “We treat the library and our speaker series as a people’s university, and our aim is to provide a continuing dialogue and engagement through the forum of authors talking about their books and life experiences. It’s always valuable to hear about  ... people who aren’t necessarily well-known.”

Although Shachnow now talks about his book and its stories with some ease, initially writing down the details was sometimes a struggle for him.

“When we spoke in generalities, I had no problem. It’s when we went into specifics I had difficulty,” he said. “I wanted to cancel the project on several occasions.”

He likened the process of recording his memories to picking a scab of a healing wound.

“I think every story that’s in there is something I’m willing to stand by. There were things I revealed — I wondered if it was anybody’s business… You sometimes go in life from day to day, (and) you don’t look on it very philosophically,” he said. “I found myself questioning what kind of person I was when I was in uniform.”

“What training is all about in the military is for you to shed your inhibitions about killing because you grew up most of your life being told that taking someone’s life is wrong. When you put the uniform on, they tell you, ‘There are some exceptions … as a matter of fact we’re going to give you a medal and call you a hero,’ but at some point, I had some serious questions about that.”

To attend Shachnow’s talk, call the library to reserve a seat at 816-701-3407, or go to www.kclibrary.org and select “events.”

RABBI CRAIG LEWIS INSTALLATION WEEKEND — Rabbi Craig Lewis’ installation as rabbi of the South Street Temple in Lincoln, Neb., was featured in the June 1 edition of The Jewish Press in Omaha. In the article, reporter Sarah Kelen noted that he is the congregation’s 29th religious leader since its founding in 1884. The Temple’s historic sanctuary was full, as Temple members, a number of Lincoln’s Christian clergy and other members of the Jewish and general community joined together to welcome Rabbi Lewis and to share in Shabbat prayer. Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler welcomed Rabbi Lewis, who is a native Kansas Citian and the son of Stu Lewis and the late Hilary Lewis, as a new addition to Lincoln’s interfaith leadership. David Polson, head of the Lincoln chapter of the University of Kansas Alumni Association, was also on hand to greet Rabbi Lewis (KU 1996) with a “Rock chalk.” Rabbi Lewis’s mentor and friend, Rabbi Kenneth Kanter, director of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, officiated at the installation. Other events that weekend included the dedication of a tree on the Temple’s grounds in honor of Rabbi Lewis.

RABBI MANDL RETIREMENT TIDBITS — During Rabbi Mandl’s retirement dinner last Sunday night, he mentioned two things in his speech that are especially worth repeating in this column. A representative of the book company Simon & Schuster recently called the rabbi to discuss a possible book deal. Apparently the publishing company monitors newspapers from across the company and found the article The Chronicle published about Rabbi Mandl last month. He told the crowd he’ll know more soon about whether or not a book deal is on the horizon for him. On another note, Rabbi Mandl has received final approval to conduct research in the Vatican library in February of 2013. He recently learned he’s the only rabbi in the history of the Vatican to receive approval to conduct research there.

CELEBRITY SIGHTING — Ben Wilinsky, a Prairie Village resident who graduated from KU earlier this month with degrees in journalism and Spanish, visited his sister Lara in New York City over the Memorial Day weekend. (Lara currently works as associate producer for the HGTV show “Selling New York,” which airs on Thursday nights). While in New York, Ben went to Barnes & Noble where he met Jimmy Fallon, who was signing his new book, “Blow Your Pants Off.” Ben plans to move to Chicago soon and teach kindergarten through eighth-grade English in the inner city schools as part of the Teach for America program.

One hundred years ago today, May 31, 1912, the Jewish community established the Moshav Zkeinim Home for the Aged Society. Now known as Village Shalom, the continuing care retirement community began celebrating its 100th anniversary earlier this year and will continue to do so through its Ages of Excellence Celebration in November.

One reason the facility is able to celebrate this milestone is a successful effort that culminated last fall in which the continuing care facility was able to reduce the $40 million in capital debt on its 26-acre campus to a more manageable $16 million.

“We have so much to celebrate,” said Matthew E. Lewis, Village Shalom’s president and CEO. “Having such a successful capital debt reduction campaign has truly solidified the financial stability of the organization.”

“To be able to carry that forward and celebrate 100 years of serving the Jewish community is really special and it’s really meaningful. The timing of it has just been a real blessing. It certainly has given us much more to celebrate.”

Today there are approximately 100 Jewish senior living facilities in North America. However other communities haven’t been as successful as Kansas City in maintaining these facilities, with at least three closing in the last five years. Michael Abrams, chairman of the board, believes the Kansas City Jewish community should be proud it’s been able to support Village Shalom.

“Our tradition teaches us a community is judged on three questions: how we educate our young, how we treat our poor and how we care for our elderly. We can all take pride in that through Village Shalom we’ve been able to fulfill the obligation of caring for our elderly and will continue to do so in the years to come,” Abrams said.

Lewis, who is not Jewish, noted that one of the main reasons Village Shalom has survived and thrived over the years is due to the depth of support it receives from the Jewish community.

“It’s not just the financial backing of our facilities. It’s the commitment, the caring, the volunteering … all of the different aspects of how this organization works. I’ve worked for other faith-based retirement communities, and I think truly the Jewish community’s commitment to caring for the elderly far surpasses any other faith-based organization that I’ve worked for,” Lewis said.

In particular, Lewis praises the support the board has provided over the years.

“We’ve always had and we continue to have very strong board leadership. I’ve always been grateful for the people from the community that have given so much of their time to serve on our board. It’s a huge time commitment,” he said

Staying on solid footing

Lewis has been with Village Shalom for 12 years, first serving as chief financial officer. He will celebrate his seventh anniversary as chief executive office tomorrow, June 1. During that time he has always had to keep an eye on the financial situation.

Administrators often worry about reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, entitlement and insurance programs that many residents rely on. Those revenue streams are very tenuous and often vulnerable to budget cuts.

While revenue from those programs will continue to be unpredictable in the future, Lewis points out that Village Shalom’s occupancy rates continue to be strong.

“Last year, 2011, concluded our fifth straight year of 95 percent occupancy or higher and we’re on track to achieve that in 2012,” Lewis said. “Five years and running is a pretty remarkable stretch.”

Not everyone Village Shalom serves is a resident, and those numbers continue to rise as well.

“For example our dementia day program, on an annual basis, typically serves 100-plus people. We provide outpatient therapy and our wellness center has community participation. So when you look at all of the unique individuals that we serve, it’s well over 700 people on an annual basis and that number has really continued to grow over the last several years,” Lewis said.

When he became CEO, one of his primary goals was to build a management team that not only had more experience within their respective areas of expertise but also more industry experience.

“I also worked hard on retention so that Village Shalom had stability on the management team level,” he said.

Along those lines, he also set in motion plans to attract high-quality employees and retain them through training, staff development and employee recognition and appreciation.

Lewis can point to the fact that strides in those areas have led to decreased employee turnover in five of the last seven years. In 2004, employee turnover was 101 percent. In 2010 it was 23 percent and in 2011 it was 30 percent. Lewis said the industry average is between 60 and 70 percent annually.

In the next 10 years, Lewis said continuing to attract quality employees will be one of the facility’s challenges.

“There are a lot of good nurses and staff members that are very good in terms of their skill set or their clinical knowledge, but we also seek staff that care very deeply about our mission of taking care of the elderly,” Lewis explained.

“We want our staff to provide our residents with a dignified quality of life that far surpasses other organizations. It takes really special staffers to do that,” he continued.

Providing quality care

Indeed Lewis is proud of the care Village Shalom offers seniors, and said it can’t be matched anywhere else in the community.

“People of other faiths truly know the quality of care that we provide, so they understand that there’s a real commitment to that,” Lewis said.

The CEO feels that Village Shalom’s commitment to quality care distinguishes it from other similar facilities in the area. He also feels Village Shalom offers unique things others don’t.

“Certainly one of the things that comes to mind is the gallery. No other facility that I am aware of has a gallery or something that even compares to what we have,” Lewis said.

He said Village Shalom is always challenging itself to do new and creative programs and activities for its residents.

“We do much more by way of programs and activities than any other facility within the metro area,” he said. “We provide well beyond just the typical things that you would think of. We do those things, too, and they are important, but we try to go above and beyond. We try to inject new activities.”

Lewis said meeting individual interests is another thing at which Village Shalom excels.

“We do a lot of group activities and programs, but we go above and beyond to see that the individual interests and hobbies of our residents are met because that’s important to the individual. We strive to provide that holistic care,” he continued.

The celebration

Lewis said Village Shalom is currently firming up details to share several celebratory anniversary events with the entire Jewish community. Dates have not yet been confirmed, but they include a birthday party at Village Shalom, a speech at the White Theatre by Rabbi Irwin Kula, the president of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and the annual Ages of Excellence Event in November.

Village Shalom’s humble beginnings

In 2012, 91 Orthodox Jews signed the charter for the Moshav Zkeinim Home for the Aged Society. A 14-room house located at 29th and Troost was donated by Herman Appleman in 1918. Named the Michael Appleman Home in memory of Herman’s son, it began accepting residents in 1918 and served the community at that location for nearly 32 years. A neighboring house was purchased to provide additional residential space, and its garage served as the facility’s synagogue.

Ground was broken for a new home at 78th and Holmes in 1948. Two years later in 1950, 18 senior adults moved into the facility, which was now called the Home for the Jewish Aged. At that time it could accommodate 76 residents. In 1954 a Special Services unit opened, increasing the home’s capacity to 90 residents.

The name changed again in 1967 to the Jewish Home for the Aged. The home’s capacity doubled, increasing to 181 residents, in 1968. A new name, Jewish Geriatric and Convalescent Center, was adopted in 1970, this time to reflect an expansion of services.

Shalom Plaza Apartments and Multi-Activity Senior Center opened next door to JGCC with 125 apartments in 1978. In an effort to identify that JGCC and Shalom Plaza facilities were branches of a single organization, the home changed its name to Shalom Geriatric Center in 1985.

Plans for the new Village Shalom, located on 26 acres in Overland Park, were finalized in 1997. Village Shalom opened its doors to the community almost 12 years ago on June 20, 2000.

What’s a nice Jewish guy doing on national satellite radio and writing books, playing the piano professionally, and starting his own reality show on his own network June 18?

If you’re Seth Rudetsky, it’s all in a day’s work. For those who follow the Broadway theater scene, Rudetsky is the beloved afternoon Broadway host on Sirius/XM Radio and of a new show, “Seth Speaks”. He’s also a columnist for Playbill.com, and his resume builds from there.

So what’s this nice Jewish Broadway expert and entertainer doing coming to Kansas City this Sunday, June 3?

Rudetsky is starring in his one man show, “Seth Rudetsky Tells You Everything You Wanted to Know About the Tonys: A sassy, savvy tell-all with Broadway’s funniest insider” at the White Recital Hall at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Rudetsky’s 6 p.m. show is in connection with Music Theatre for Young People’s senior production of “Chicago.” (MTYP is a professional performer training program for youth grades two through 12.) Among those involved with the MTYP show is Jewish performer Gabbie Fried, daughter of Sandi and Ed Fried. This is Gabbie’s sixth MTYP production and likely her last as she heads off to New York University this fall to study acting.

“I’m excited because I’ve seen his show before and his show is really awesome,” Gabbie said. “My mother and I have already enjoyed listening to his opinions and guests from many of the shows so it will be fun to see how he thinks the Tony’s will end up this year.”

So how did Rudetsky’s visit come about? Through MTYP’s music director Julie Danielson, who now works in New York City. The two worked together on several benefit concerts and “Legally Blonde,” an MTV reality show. Danielson introduced Rudetsky to Danielson’s mother and MTYP Founder Cary Danielson Pandzik.

“We told him about MTYP and all our successful alums,” Danielson said. “He was intrigued and mentioned he had only been to Kansas City one other time.... So we’ve been trying ever since to bring him in town to see the great work that MTYP does ... and do his show.”

So for those who don’t follow Broadway, who is Seth Rudetsky?

According to his website, the Jewish performer’s first big role came when he was in the third grade; he played the Cowardly Lion while attending Hillel summer day camp. Next up, Rudetsky “starred” in the camp’s production of the operetta, “The Mikado.” It was an auspicious start for a Jewish boy from Long Island. His first directing gig came in junior high as assistant music director for his school’s production “Once Upon a Mattress.” And Rudetsky’s first “professional” gig? A small part in “Oliver” at the Northstage Dinner Theater starring Shani Wallis, the actress who starred as Nancy in the movie.

Rudetsky’s theater passion continued through high school with stints in shows at summer arts camp. His talent for playing the piano also blossomed. Upon high school graduation Rudetsky went to Oberlin Conservatory as a classical piano performance major. However, what he really enjoyed was playing the Broadway repertoire. He got into more music directing, as well. Post college, Rudetsky had stints with various theaters around the East Coast and a European Tour of “A Chorus Line.” Then there was the position of musical director for “Forever Plaid” — he even came to Kansas City with that production.

Needless to say, Rudetsky’s career around professional theater — both in the pit and on the stage — took off. He’s played for more than a dozen Broadway shows including “Les Miz,” “Phantom” and “Ragtime.” He was the artistic producer/music director for the first five annual Actors Fund Fall Concerts. And in 2007, Rudetsky made his Broadway acting debut playing Sheldon in “The Ritz” directed by Joe Mantello for The Roundabout Theater.

Rudetsky has done off-Broadway, writing and starring in “Rhapsody in Seth” as well as television with appearances in “Law and Order C.I.” and a recurring role on “All My Children.” Rudetsky has also written books including “The Q Guide to Broadway” and “Broadway Nights,” which was just released as an audio book featuring Andrea Martin, Jonathan Groff and Kristin Chenoweth.

Rudetsky is looking forward to his return performance in Kansas City.

“People can expect to laugh,” said Rudetsky about his show. “My shows are always based in comedy and everything else comes from there.... People can expect to leave loving Broadway more than they already do. And if they’re the type of person who doesn’t know anything about Broadway or professes to hate, I guarantee they will leave loving Broadway,” he said with a laugh.

Rudetsky has been doing a talk show about Broadway since 1999 and has interviewed hundreds of its performers. During his show, he’ll share some insights from those conversations.

“I know lots of hilarious stories from their experiences at the Tony Awards — from singing completely wrong lyrics to someone having the nerve to pronounce Stephen Sondheim’s name wrong in front of him,” he said. “I love making people laugh and I love letting people know how Broadway works.”

Rudetsky said being Jewish gives him a strong cultural connection to Broadway.

“When I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of Jewish movie stars, but Broadway was overflowing with yiddishkeit,” he said. “I certainly had a lot of Jews to idolize growing up who were Broadway bigwigs: Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, Marvin Hamlisch etc.”

Rudetsky enjoys being involved in almost every aspect of performing and being connected to Broadway. He isn’t happy unless he’s balancing several different projects simultaneously.

“I love it all,” Rudetsky said.

“I especially love the radio because I get to spread the love of Broadway across the country,” he said.

Does Rudetsky have any show business advice for Gabbie and her fellow MTYP?

“Do not listen to anyone who says you can’t do it,” Rudetsky said. “Try to take every opportunity that comes your way because you always learn something from it.”

For more information about the June 3 performance of Chicago and Rudetsky’s show, visit www.mtyp.org.

Three women were stopped for questioning after attempting to pray at the Western Wall wearing Jewish prayer shawls on Tuesday, May 22. One of the three was Sarit Horwitz, 26, a graduate of Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and a second-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Conservative Judaism in New York. She has been in Israel for a year, studying at the Shechter Institute, a pluralistic Jewish studies seminary, as part of her rabbinical studies course.

The women, part of a group of about 40 from the Women of the Wall group, were praying at the wall as part of their monthly Rosh Chodesh, or new month, prayer service, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Horwitz and the other two women are featured in a YouTube video posted on the Women of the Wall Facebook page. The Jerusalem Post article quoting Horwitz is also posted on the Facebook page. Women of the Wall’s central mission is to achieve the social and legal recognition of “our right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray, and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall.”

Horwitz told the Jerusalem Post that a policewoman approached her during the group’s prayer service and told her to adjust the tallit she was wearing because she was wearing it as a man does. A male officer then adjusted the tallit for her without her permission.

As Erica Miller explained on the video, “we were instructed to wear our tallisim as a scarf and we did just that.”

Upon exiting the plaza, the three women, including Horwitz, were briefly detained by the police who took their personal identification and contact details, although they did not give a specific reason for the demand. They were told they would need to present themselves to the police for further investigation and questioning.

“It’s frightening to me that a woman wearing a tallit is a criminal threat to the State of Israel,” Horwitz told The Jerusalem Post. “I’m leaving the country in a week and a half and I hope when I come back Israel will be a more religiously tolerant and understanding place.”

On the video, Horwitz voices her support for Women of the Wall and its importance to women.

“I think it’s important that holy spaces in Israel aren’t just for a certain group of people and that we can also feel that this space (the Kotel) is ours. Without Women of the Wall there’s not the framework to do that,” she said.

Horwitz is the daughter of Tobi Cooper and Rabbi Danny Horwitz, a former rabbi at Congregation Ohev Sholom.

Some information for this report was provided by JTA News & Features.

Sidonia Perlstein survived the Holocaust to become a talented designer and seamstress. But when Perlstein died on Mother’s Day six years ago at the age of 93, she was still a mystery to the daughter she had raised alone in western Massachusetts.

“My real mother was someone I never truly knew,” said Hanna Perlstein Marcus.

But Sidonia’s death only made Marcus more determined to understand her mother and seek out the father about whom she would never speak.

Marcus recounts what she learned in her memoir, “Sidonia’s Thread: The Secrets of a Mother and Daughter Sewing a New Thread in America.” It is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

“Piecing together her story showed me a mother who was a stronger, more resilient and courageous person than I ever thought,” said Marcus, who is 64.

Their story begins in 1947 in a displaced persons camp near the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northwest Germany. In her mid-30s, an unwed Sidonia gave birth to a daughter she affectionately called “Hanele” (little Hanna). Two years later, the two immigrated to the United States. Since they had no American relatives to sponsor them, the American Joint Distribution Committee randomly assigned them to Springfield, Mass.

The author has connections to Kansas City. Steve Rothstein and Ann Rothstein Cromer (now Chana Cromer of Jerusalem), are two of her only cousins in the entire world.

“Steve’s mother, Olga, and my mother were first cousins since their mothers were sisters. They came from the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine-producing region in Northeastern Hungary. Olga, her brother Ference, who returned to Hungary after being liberated, and my mother were among less than a handful of that extended family who survived the Holocaust. When they arrived in America, Olga and her family settled in Kansas City,” Marcus said.

Marcus said Sidonia was blessed with a self-taught talent for sewing and a flair for fashion.

“She was a fashionista and a great admirer of Jackie Kennedy. I’m tall and thin, so I was her perfect model.”

Although mother and daughter were close, Marcus felt that her mother wanted to keep part of herself at a distance. For example when she was 6, she asked about her father.

Her mother’s “response was cold, and she was unwilling to talk,” Marcus said. “I never asked again.”

Both mother and daughter always wore clothes designed and made by Sidonia.

“For the most part, I realized the clothes she made were stunning. I was wearing couturier clothes when I was 13 years old,” Marcus said.

Sidonia went from working in a dress factory to becoming a foreman and finally opening her own business as a fashion designer and seamstress. One grateful customer gave her “Coats and Clark’s Sewing Book: Newest Methods from A to Z” (1967), the only sewing book Sidonia ever owned. She never opened it, but the book always sat on a table in her sewing room.

Marcus went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UMass.-Amherst. Wearing her mother’s designs, she was voted one of the best-dressed women on campus.

At the University of Connecticut, she received master’s degrees in counseling and social work. As a licensed clinical social worker, she embarked on a career in social work and public sector human services. After marrying in 1969, she had two children, Brenda and Stephen, and settled in Vernon, Conn.

In the mid-1980s, Marcus and her daughter accompanied Sidonia to her hometown in Hungary.

“When my mother and her family were deported, they always thought they would be back,” Marcus said. “They had treasures hidden for safekeeping. We were searching to see if there were mementoes of the family I never knew.”

They didn’t find anything, but Hungary reignited Marcus’ interest in her mother’s past.

“The trip was a turning point. My feelings changed, and I wanted to write about it,” she said.

In 1998, while helping the then 86-year-old move into senior housing, Marcus looked inside her mother’s nightstand and found it filled with photos and with papers and letters, in Hungarian, Yiddish and German.

“I took them without her knowing it, and had them translated,” Marcus said. “They revealed unexpected surprises” — including that Marcus’ father was much younger than her mother and didn’t want to commit to marrying an older woman. There was enough information for Marcus to trace him to his home in Israel.

“When I finally called my father, he was neither cordial nor receptive to my requests to arrange a meeting between us, having never revealed my existence to his family,” said Marcus. “My childhood dreams of finding a father who would welcome me with open arms were shattered. Although I eventually met the daughter he had later in his life, it never turned into a lasting relationship.”

Drawing on the papers from the nightstand, the trip to Hungary and her childhood memories, Marcus assembled a picture of her mother.

Sidonia was a “content and somewhat sheltered woman who came from a close-knit, large immediate and extended family, all lost in the Holocaust,” said Marcus. “She was a changed woman after the war, very insular, solitary and reclusive — unable to reveal how her child was conceived, her correct age and why she behaved in such a withdrawn manner.”

Sidonia and her sister Laura were interned at Auschwitz, Dachau and Bergen-Belsen. Laura died of typhus only two months before the liberation of Bergen Belsen in April, 1945.

“In Dachau, during a roll call, the officer in charge asked if anyone could sew,” Marcus said. “My mother must have shouted louder than any other woman with her hand raised because she was chosen to work in the camp’s office. She sewed ripped seams, buttons, and replaced zippers for the soldiers and office staff during her last few weeks in Dachau. Because her leg was broken just a day before [that roll call], I have always thought that her sewing skill actually saved her life during the Holocaust.”

Following Sidonia’s death in 2006, Marcus began to think about writing the book. “My mother went to her death without knowing I had uncovered these treasures in her nightstand,” Marcus said. “She never told me secrets. We were keeping secrets from each other.”

Originally, Marcus planned do genealogical research by finding people who knew her mother in Hungary or in the DP camp. She succeeded in contacting some of them, but nearly all were reluctant to talk.

“So I decided to write mainly from memory,” Marcus said. “My research was not scholarly. This is a very personal story.”
As she began to write, Marcus remembered the sewing book the customer had given her mother. With permission from the Coats and Clark Company, Marcus used titles and excerpts from the book to serve as the “thread” to tie her own book together.

“ ‘Sidonia’s Thread’ is really about Sidonia. I am the facilitator to tell her story,” said Marcus.

Parts of this article were originally published in The Jewish Advocate of Boston.

ANOTHER SHINING STAR — After the paper came out last week I quickly learned that the Jewish community had not one but TWO Jewish students who were invited to speak at their high school’s commencement ceremonies. Mollie Chesis, the daughter of Paul and Julie Chesis and a member of Congregation Beth Torah, spoke at Blue Valley High School’s graduation. A Chronicle Salute to Youth honoree in June 2011, she spoke about taking chances and relying on and trusting one’s self to move forward. Mollie collected numerous awards this year including the Superintendent’s Award and the state ACT award, received cord recognition in eight areas and was “senior of the year” in three academic departments. In addition she was one of the top four students in her school for amassing community service hours. During the school year she also assisted Linda Sweenie with the music during the Weiner Religious School’s weekly family worship and to top it off coordinated the NFTY regional Spring Havurah hosted by Beth Torah this past April. Mazel tov to Mollie and all the other scholars in our Jewish community!

THEATRE IN THE PARK — I’m told many members of the Jewish community are taking part in a variety of productions in this the 43rd summer season of Johnson County’s Theatre in the Park. A program of Johnson County Park and Recreation District, it is the largest outdoor community theater in the country. TTIP provides high-quality live theatrical entertainment, including Broadway-style musicals and a host of special events. Open auditions are held each year to cast the shows. This season will include six shows never seen before at TTIP. All shows begin at 8:30 p.m.; gates open to the amphitheater at 7:20 p.m. The first production, “Sweeney Todd,” runs June 8-10 and June 14-17. It is directed by the Jewish Community Center’s Director of Theatre Mark Swezey (and rated R). Ruth Bigus has a role in “Urinetown,” July 20-22 and July 26-29. For a complete list of shows and ticket information, visit www.theatreinthepark.org.

ASNER HALL OF FAME INFO — As we’ve already told you, Ed Asner will be inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame along with Gov. Alfred M. Landon, Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, founder Cyrus K. Holliday, The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Professor George Washington Carver and publisher William Allen White. The Great Overland Station in Topeka, 701 N. Kansas Avenue, is hosting an exhibit of Hall of Famer memorabilia. You can see Asner’s 1971 Emmy Award along with the desk and an original script from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. You can even see Asner’s baby shoes! Also on display are original letters written by George Washington Carver and Cyrus K. Holliday, a photo album and cane that belonged to Alf Landon and a huge whistle from a Santa Fe steam locomotive. The exhibit will be on display through July 15 during regular museum hours. For more information about exhibit hours and tickets, visit www.greatoverlandstation.com. Don’t forget Asner will star in the one-man show FDR on July 17 at the White Theatre. It is a fundraiser for Friends of Sheffield.

In today’s mobile society, it’s hard to find someone who has spent 35 years at the same job. In 1977, when Rabbi Herbert J. Mandl arrived in Kansas City to serve Kehilath Israel Synagogue, even he would have said it would be tough to fathom that he’d be here that long.

“I absolutely thought this would be an intermediary stop. I had never been to the Midwest before. I had been the assistant rabbi in a mega congregation and I assumed I would end up on the East Coast in a mega congregation,” he said.

But he and his family fell in love with Kansas City and the congregation, which now serves 600 members. So much so that when he retires on Aug. 1, he has no immediate plans to leave the area.

“Three of our four children live in New York, so I expect down the road we’ll move to that area. But for now we’re sticking around,” Rabbi Mandl said in a recent interview.

The congregation is honoring Rabbi Mandl with a gala weekend June 1 through June 3 (see Page 7 for details). Now 67, he is enjoying looking back at the past 35 years and ahead to the future.

Keeping the tradition

The rabbi was born and raised in Baltimore. He went to rabbinical school after graduating from Johns Hopkins University and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City in 1969. While serving his first two congregations in Canada, he began working on his doctorate from the University of Montreal. He completed it in May 1981 here in Kansas City. He obtained an Orthodox ordination in 1974.

His first job in the rabbinate was senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom in Edmonton Alberta Canada. Prior to coming to Kansas City, he worked as an assistant rabbi for six years in Montreal.

One thing that intrigued Rabbi Mandl about K.I., and something he still loves about it today, is the fact that it is a “traditional” congregation. In his words, that’s a congregation with “an Orthodox service with mixed seating.”

“I had never heard the word traditional in that sense before I applied for this position. It is a Midwest concept born in Chicago back in the ’40s,” he explained.

In 1977, Rabbi Mandl estimates there were about 25 other traditional congregations in the United States, all with more than 500 families. Today there are fewer than a dozen in the country that match that description.

The congregation was 65 years old when Rabbi Mandl came, and its steady rabbinic leadership was another thing that attracted him to it.

“I thought the fact that there had been a rabbi here for almost 40 years spoke well for the congregation,” he said. “The day school was just starting to bloom in those days and that was attractive to us. There was also talk of moving to Johnson County because we were in Kansas City, Missouri.”

Now when steady rabbinical leadership is mentioned, Rabbi Mandl’s name is near the very top of the list, not only for K.I., but the entire city. The rabbi with the longest tenure in K.C. is Rabbi Samuel S. Mayerberg of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, where he served for 40 years. Next on the list is K.I.’s Rabbi Maurice Solomon, who came to K.I. in 1934 and retired in 1972 — five years before Rabbi Mandl joined the congregation (following short stints at the congregation by Rabbi Gilbert Shoham and Rabbi Avraham Radzik). Other famous K.C. rabbinical names served less time in Kansas City, including Congregation Beth Shalom’s Rabbi Gershon Hadas (32 years) and Rabbi Morris Margolies (27 years). Congregation Beth Torah’s Rabbi Mark Levin has actually been in K.C. one year longer than Rabbi Mandl, arriving in 1976, and has served as the Reform congregation’s spiritual leader for 24 years.

Simply put, K.I. President Steve Osman said the congregation is deeply appreciative for Rabbi Mandl’s commitment to the congregation.

“For 35 years Rabbi Mandl dedicated his life to doing what was best for K.I.,” Osman said.

“Rabbi Mandl is a man of great intellect with superior communication skills. He set a standard for all events that will be difficult to match,” Osman added.

The rabbi has contributed to the congregation’s steady leadership, steering its move to its current location in Overland Park in 1986. He is proud that over the years he has continued to guide K.I. to go out of its way to offer community services and “to do things the right way.”

“We built the mikvah and offered to have it here because we had it in the old building and thought it was the right thing to do. When I developed the citywide all night Shavuos program, we were the ones to say we’ll do it here. Most of the citywide Yom HaAtzmaut celebrations have been here as well,” he said.

A legacy of accomplishments

Although he chose the rabbinate, Rabbi Mandl said he had always wanted to be a lawyer and a politician. Over the years he put some of those skills to work, taking on a variety of causes. One was kashrut, working tirelessly to see to it that kosher food was available in the community. He is credited with creating the Vaad HaKashruth. He currently serves as its chairman, a position that the Vaad’s Executive Director Mendal Segal said he will keep as long as he lives in Kansas City.

“When I first came here there were a couple of strongholds that were not kosher. One was Oakwood and the other was the Alameda Plaza hotel. I hammered away at both until we got both of them kosher,” he said.

Among the rabbi’s many other accomplishments in the kosher realm, and quite possibly the one that impacts the most people, is the role he played to get fresh kosher food sold at the Hen House Market in Leawood when the city’s only kosher free-standing butcher shop closed.

He’s also been actively involved with the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City, serving as president three different times — once each in the ’70, ‘90s and currently. Last year the RA’s governing body changed its bylaws, allowing the rabbi to serve a third consecutive year as president. This way he could continue to hold that leadership position during his last year as an active pulpit rabbi.

“I thought that was a nice tribute from my colleagues,” Rabbi Mandl said.

He didn’t confine his work to the Jewish community. He lobbied the Missouri legislature to remove the phrase “year of our lord” from the Missouri marriage license. He got Hebrew added to the airport welcome signs in Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield, Mo. He fought for the repeal of the blue laws (mandating stores close on Sunday) in Missouri.

“In my younger years I was a real political activist for local issues that needed to be resolved,” he said.

He also received two political appointments over the years. From 1980 to 1986 he served as chairman of the Missouri Health Facilities Review Commission — a nine-member governor-appointed body that controls health care costs in Missouri. Then he served a six-year appointed term (1990-1996) on the Kansas Public Discloser Commission, which regulates ethical behavior of legislators and state employees.

K.I. rabbi emeritus

Contractually Rabbi Mandl has no specific duties when his title changes to rabbi emeritus. He expects to attend morning minyan several times a week, sit on the pulpit on Shabbat when he’s in town and assist the new rabbi, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, when asked.

“I’m sure after all these years congregants will seek advice, although I’ve made it very clear to the congregation that there’s a new rabbi and he’s the boss. That’s the way it should be,” he said.

Rabbi Mandl has taught theology at Rockhurst University for the past 20 years and plans to continue teaching in his role as adjunct professor for the immediate future. He’s also been invited to take part in two prestigious opportunities overseas.

In February he’ll conduct research at the Vatican. The library is only open by invitation, said the rabbi, whose doctorate was in Catholic and Jewish law.

“I’ve also been invited to be a part of the Oxford Round Table next year, which is a roundtable of 45 scholars from around the world. How I got invited to that I’ll never know. You can’t find out, it’s a closed invitation system,” he said.

He and his wife, Barbara, will also travel more often to visit their four children — Aron lives in Houston while Seth, Debbie and Miriam live in New York.

When congregation’s historians look back on Rabbi Mandl’s tenure, he hopes they remember him for his “loyalty to the congregation.”

“My children paid the price of some of that. The congregation came first, very often, before family. Of course my wife was always there and always understanding no matter what the hour was.”

As an example, he points to a story one of his daughters told during the celebration of the Mandls 25th wedding anniversary.

“We were on our way out of town on vacation. I think we had gotten as far as Columbia (Missouri) and somebody died. I turned around and came back,” he recalled.

In 35 years, he’s missed just one Shabbos when he’s been in town. He even came to the synagogue when he had walking pneumonia and attended services with the assistance of a wheelchair while nursing a back condition just a few years ago.

“I bet that’s a record that’s hard to beat,” he said.

Rabbi Mandl really has no idea what he will do with himself on Aug. 2.

“But these two overseas things that have come up tell me that there will be opportunities opening up,” he said. “I’m on a couple of local boards I will continue doing. I’m really leaving my options open.”

Rabbi Mandl’s retirement tribute

Kehilath Israel Synagogue will honor Rabbi Herbert J. Mandl and his wife Barbara the weekend of June 1.

On Friday night, June 1, a kosher Shabbat dinner, catered by Steve Ellenberg, will follow worship services. Special family speeches and memories will be shared that night.

Saturday, June 2, will be Shabbat services and a luncheon catered by Cathy Levin. Rabbi Mandl’s friends and family will lead the services and the community is welcome to attend. There is no charge for this special Shabbat morning.

Sunday, June 3, join K.I. for the Gala Celebration to thank Rabbi Mandl for his dedication and service. The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails followed by an elegant dinner catered by Steve Ellenberg. Pictures, music, speeches and many surprises will be on the program for the evening

Reservations for the three events are limited and required.