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Mary Davidson Cohen lives by the philosophy that as Jews, we should do whatever we can to repair our world as best we can.

“If I can help a little bit, I feel like it is my responsibility as a person who has been very fortunate in life to do that,” Cohen said in a recent interview.

On May 11 Cohen will be honored as 2012 Philanthropist of the Year at the 28th Annual Philanthropy Awards Luncheon presented by Nonprofit Connect. This is the first time since Norman and Elaine Polsky were honored in 2002 that a Jewish philanthropist is receiving this honor.

Cohen serves as executive director of the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust. She is very honored and humbled to be recognized as Philanthropist of the Year.

“The truth is there are three of us that are being honored: my father-in-law Joseph Cohen, my husband Barton P. Cohen and me. I’m the steward of the money. It’s a wonderful, wonderful position to be in and a real responsibility to see to it that the money goes where they would want it to go and where I know it should go and where the community needs it”

“There are a lot of people out there that do wonderful things and it’s an honor that they chose the Cohen Charitable Trust and me to honor,” she continued.

The Cohen trust was formed in 2007 following the sale of Metcalf Bank. As executive director, Cohen makes all the grant decisions within the parameters of Bart Cohen’s will. Financial professionals invest the money and take care of all accounting responsibilities.

Cohen brings to philanthropy the wisdom of her lifelong career in education, which she began as a teacher in the Kansas City (Mo.) Public Schools. Through the years, she has produced and appeared in films to teach science, served as vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Kansas Regents Center, assistant director of the William T. Kemper Foundation, vice president for adult and continuing education and dean of the graduate school at Saint Mary University in Leavenworth and, from 2002 to 2007 as the regional representative for the Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Education.

The Cohen Trust makes grants in support of the arts, education, history, libraries, social justice and religious organizations for programs that continue the Cohens’ commitment to bettering the communities to which they belonged.

As an educator, it’s not surprising that first grant Cohen made was to the Children’s Campus of Kansas City, located in Kansas City, Kan. Incorporated in 2004, the mission of CCKC is to assure that children birth to 5 years of age who are most at risk for academic failure access the resources they need to succeed in school and life.

Cohen explains CCKC as a preschool owned and operated by the University of Kansas serving the economically depressed population of Wyandotte County.

“The kids are so cute,” she said. “They take 132. The bad news is there are 5,000 children in that area who are eligible for services. The good part is you can give children a better chance in life 132 at a time.”

Cohen is most proud of a grant she made to the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law which honors her father, Julian K. Davidson.

“It’s the one grant that Bart and I talked about for a number of years if he ever sold the bank and established the charitable trust,” she explained.

Julian K. Davidson graduated in 1905 from the old Kansas City School of Law. In those days a law degree was an undergraduate degree, but he continued his studies at the University of Michigan. The 10-year-grant covers the tuition and other miscellaneous costs of three law students known as Davidson scholars. Two are enrolled now and the third will enroll in the fall of 2012.

“I think that Jews feel that we are best remembered by what we’ve done on earth and the good that we leave behind us. I know that my father would be absolutely so pleased with that scholarship that allows young people to attend school that otherwise might not have that opportunity. He would be most pleased because his name will always be at the law school,” Cohen said.

The Philanthropist of the Year honor is being presented to Cohen in recognition of grants given primarily to organizations in the general community. A different fund, established following Bart Cohen’s death in 2006, provided several substantial grants to organizations in the Jewish community under the name of the Margaret and Joseph Cohen Trust.

“The income from that does wonderful things in the Jewish community,” Cohen said. “I think it is most important for us as Jews to understand that if we don’t help our own, nobody is going to.”

“It always makes me feel good to know that Bart’s parents are memorialized and I know that good things are done that help all of us. If one of us is helped, all of us are helped. That to me is really the bottom line,” Cohen said.

While the Cohen trust gives primarily to secular causes, Cohen said she has presented a few supplemental grants to Jewish communal organizations.

“For example, Jewish Family Services does wonderful things, particularly for the elderly,” Cohen said. “Jewish causes are always good social causes and most of them offer direct services to our Jewish community whether it is here or throughout the world. Therefore we have an obligation to see to it that our fellow Jews are taken care of as well as we can possibly see to it. Those grants are very important as well.”

Cohen has also given money to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, to be used in the restoration of the Jewish section of Elmwood Cemetery.

“The history of the old Jewish community is in Section H, the Jewish section,” she said. “I want to be sure that Section H is kept up. Hopefully what we do in the Jewish section will encourage other people to adopt sections of the cemetery and make it something lovely and help the whole neighborhood. The history of Kansas City is in Elmwood Cemetery.”

Cohen also volunteers on various boards throughout the community. She is chairman of the board of the World War I Museum.

“I think that the World War I Museum is an amenity not only to this community but to the whole world. The collection there is without equal,” she said. Cohen believes it is important to the Kansas City community to pull all amenities together to make more of an economic attraction for tourists.

“I think the economic impact of all these amenities like, the World War I Museum and the new aquarium at Crown Center and the Nelson gallery and the Kemper Museum, … are terrific. If we can do something to encourage people to come and visit them, then we should do it. I feel we all have a responsibility to our community, in whatever pieces that may touch our lives.”

What would you do if doctors told you at the age of 9 you would be lucky to celebrate your 18th birthday? First it made Shelly Weiner Maguire angry and defiant. Then it motivated her to push herself to the limit and stop at nothing to reach her goals to be a successful businesswoman and live a long life. Now 51, Maguire has recently written about her struggles and successes in “Dancing in the Storm.”

She was actually approached by the publisher to write the book, along with co-author Beth Huffman.

“They found my story of growing up with Cystic Fibrosis, my life challenges and determination to be inspiring and they asked me to share my life story,” Maguire said.

Maguire is a Kansas City native and the daughter of Felicia and Seymour Weiner. She grew up attending Kehilath Israel Synagogue, where her parents are still members. The book follows her quest to survive Cystic Fibrosis, the lethal disease that invaded Maguire’s lungs at birth but wasn’t diagnosed until she was 9 years old.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 70,000 children and adults worldwide. A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.

Readers will learn about Maguire’s fearless journey that takes her from the role of class clown to that of an entrepreneur, TV personality, radio host and prominent skin care developer who appears regularly on HSN. A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and other children’s charities. It is currently available through the publisher, www.stanleypublishing.com and will soon be available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

“The book is a lesson in stepping through barriers and around boundaries to achieve life’s goals. This book will serve as an inspirational tool for everyone as it is written through the eyes of an angry adolescent, a rebellious teen and now a success-oriented mature adult,” Maguire said.

“I want to reach, inspire and help others who face their own life challenges — not just CF.”

Maguire truly believes the disease has affected her in a positive way.

“It has made me more ambitious. It’s made me stubborn in a good way. It’s kept me from ever believing in the words no or can’t. I just don’t believe in those words. It’s made me really persevere. I’ve pushed the limits to prove that I can succeed,” she said.

Many people who knew Maguire when she was young never knew she had Cystic Fibrosis. She had made a conscious decision to keep that fact to herself.

“I was so afraid of growing up different and being ostracized for being different and just not fitting in that I hid my disease until I was 25 or 30 years old. I just didn’t come to terms with it.”

“Life was tough enough. I was overweight as a child. Even being Jewish made you different and this was just one more thing I couldn’t add into the pot. So I hid my disease,” she explained.

Maguire said as she got older she figured out the disease is something that really defined her life in a good way.

“I realized how much it’s driven me to be a better person. And the more that I’ve worn it as a badge of honor or courage, the more I’m finding I’m actually touching other people’s lives,” she said. “In fact, all the things I wanted to hide from when I was younger — being different — are the very things I want to share with everyone now.”

As a child Maguire was told she would be lucky to live until she was 18. Now the average life expectancy for CF patients is 37. Maguire attributes her longevity to taking very good care of herself. That includes staying fit, progressive medications and a good mental attitude.

“Cystic Fibrosis is literally a daily struggle because it affects so many organs in your body,” she explained.
She firmly believes in being active, both mentally and physically.

“So much of it is really making that mental step saying that I’m going to do everything I have to do to get around these obstacles and get through these boundaries and challenge myself with little victories every day. I really look at ways to set goals and set victories for myself,” she said.

Maguire goes to the gym often, and said her friends and family frequently give her trouble for being so busy and active. Her doctor is not one of those people.

“My doctor says whatever I’m doing I should keep doing because I think it’s that part of it that keeps me from feeling depressed and focusing on how bad life is versus focusing on how lucky I am,” said Maguire, who lives in Naples, Fla. She and her husband Frankie Tedesco have been together more than 10 years and married for one.

Maguire is admitted to the hospital many times a year. Even when she’s in the hospital she tries to stay as physically active as possible. Most of the time that means dragging her IV pole along with her.

“I’ll ask to go outside and run or take a walk or I’ll ask to go to physical therapy,” she said. “I’m very dedicated to running every day even when I’m sick with IVs in my arms.”

It only took Maguire a few short months to write the book, and she found the process really interesting. She still had her old diary that helped her remember what she did and thought as an angry adolescent and as a very belligerent and obstinate teenager.

“I went through that angry and denial stage then, and now as a mature adult the position and the focus I have that I think dealing with these obstacles has really enhanced my life. I don’t really know what I would be or who I would be without facing these obstacles,” she said.

While the book is about the serious issue of battling CF, that’s not the only focus.

“It’s really about dealing with obstacles and diseases and business,” she said. “There’s humor, there’s sadness and grief, and it even touches on the love story between me and Frankie.”

Last year, when the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy freshmen went on their trip to Israel, they stayed with host families from Kansas City’s sister region of Gezer, in central Israel. On Wednesday, March 28, the Israeli teens that housed the HBHA students last year flew to Kansas to stay with their HBHA friends until Saturday morning, March 31.

HBHA Hebrew teacher Danny Altshull, who lived in Israel and served in the Israeli navy, said the Israeli kids did a lot in a few short days. Those activities included volunteering alongside HBHA students at Mitzvah Day, shadowing the sophomore students throughout the school day, watching the girls’ first soccer game of the season and attending Taste of Shabbat. The teens’ itinerary also included a visit to the Arabia Steamboat Museum at the River Market.

The Israeli kids were brought to Kansas City by the Jewish Federation, who thought that they should get a taste of America. Since the Israelis housed the HBHA students last year, the Jewish Federation thought that HBHA students should return the favor, which they were more than happy to do.

Gal Sugbeker, one of the visitors from Gezer, said, “I am very excited to be here. The school is a lot bigger here, which was surprising, but the people are not so different than they are in Israel.”

Noa Dikman, another Israeli visitor, agreed with Sugbeker and added, “The education is very different from our school in Israel.”
Prior to Lady Rams’ first soccer game of the season against Southwest High School, the teens tailgated and then cheered the team on after the game began. Following the game Noy Bertish said, “The girls soccer game was very impressive, and the energy of the crowd was exciting.”

After the Israeli teens left Kansas City, they spent two days in New York City and then traveled to Madrid, Spain. All of the Israeli visitors said that they had a wonderful time, learned a lot, and will not forget their experience in Kansas City and in the United States.

This article was originally published in the March 30 edition of The Academy Voice, the student newspaper of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.

COLLEGIATE PASSOVER — We hear Jewish experts from all over the country tell us that young adults are not affiliating with the organized Jewish community. That may be true, but we know of at least two organizations on the University of Kansas campus that are working hard to keep college students interested in the religion and participating in the Jewish community and doing a darn good job of it. Both KU Hillel and The Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Life held Passover seders last week for those who couldn’t make it home or to a friend’s home for seder. KU Hillel hosted 60 students at a second seder Saturday night. Chabad at KU hosted 70 people Friday and Saturday evenings for seders (though not all students). During this Passover week, Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel said another 20 to 30 students were expected to participate in a meal plan offered by Chabad and about 60 students are expected to attend a Shabbat/Passover meal tomorrow night. We know of other seders that were open to the community here in KC also, and we thank them all for providing this hospitality. But we especially applaud those who are working so hard to engage our next generation of leaders! Yasher koach!

MOURNING MIKE WALLACE — Like many journalists, we were saddened to hear about the death of Mike Wallace last weekend. Former Chronicle Editor Ruth Baum Bigus was lucky enough to snag the “60-Minutes” star for a telephone interview in 1990. At the time Wallace, who was born Myron Leon “Mike” Wallace to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in 1918, was promoting a special highlighting his 40-year career in journalism. He told Bigus that his favorite interview undoubtedly was Vladimir Horowitz, “… he was such a charmer and such a genius at what he did.” Although Wallace hadn’t been well enough to appear on “60 Minutes” in quite some time, we will indeed miss his presence.

HEADS UP FOR PLGA — The teachers and families of Beth Shalom’s Rose Family Early Childhood Education Center are organizing a fundraiser for 3-year-old Finnegan O’Keefe, a student in the class taught by Miss Julie Kadosh and Miss Connie Simon. Finnegan was diagnosed with a PLGA (pediatric low grade astrocytoma brain stem tumor) in November 2011. Stefanie Williams, who has a child in Finnegan’s class, said Finnegan’s teachers knew they had to do something to help this sweet boy, so they decided to plan an amazing event that could help to raise the funds needed to find a cure and give him a future.
So the teachers at the Jewish preschool are planning a fundraiser to be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish located at 142nd and Nall Avenue. The HEADS UP for PLGA will benefit the PLGA Foundation. The afternoon will include lots of fun activities for small children, a silent auction and will feature local musicians Funky Mama, Mr. Stinky Feet, Dino O’Dell and the wacky duo Laughing Matters!!

Admission for children 3 and over will be $10, 2 and under are free. For more information, to make a donation or to become a sponsor, visit headsupforplga.shutterfly.com or Heads Up for PLGA on Facebook. In addition, “Team Fighting Finnegan” yellow bracelets are available in the preschool school office for $1!

FINDING YOUR ROOTS ON PBS — An hour-long episode of the new PBS series “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.” scheduled to air Sunday, April 15, features Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, the senior cantor of New York City’s Central Synagogue. Rabbi Buchdahl, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, digs deeper into her mixed heritage and ancestry in the episode. The episode also features Pastor Rick Warren and Sheikh Yasir Qadhi. In it the “Finding Your Roots” research teams unearth a story about the spiritual foundations of America and the long, sometimes painful, struggle to achieve religious freedom and tolerance. The episode also uncovers the difficulties religious leaders and their ancestors experienced holding onto their faith while still feeling like an “authentic” American. The episode is scheduled to air locally at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 15, on KCPT.

QUALITY HILL REVUE TO DAZZLE AUDIENCES — Three exceptional actor/singers pay tribute to the musical team that has razzle dazzled audiences since the 1960s in the cabaret revue “Life Is a Cabaret: The Songs of Kander and Ebb,” opening April 20 at Quality Hill Playhouse. Kansas City native Kander is Jewish and so was Ebb, who died in 2004. Their sleek, sexy and sophisticated style translated such gritty subjects as pre-Hitler Germany, decadent 1920s America and a prison cell in a South American police state into successful Broadway musicals (“Cabaret,” 1966; “Chicago,” 1975; “Kiss of the Spiderwoman,” 1993; respectively). Director and arranger J. Kent Barnhart has designed the show to give audiences an appreciation of the duo’s remarkable career by selecting material from across their five-decade partnership, including their first song written together (“My Coloring Book” in 1962); songs from their last projects together (“Steel Pier,” 1997; “The Visit,” 1999; “Chicago” (film), 2002); and many of their standards (“All That Jazz,” “Maybe This Time,” “Cabaret,” “New York, New York”). Vocalists Stephanie Laws, Aurelie Roque and Tim Scott will be joined by Barnhart at the piano, Julian Goff on drums and Brian Wilson on bass for the revue’s three dozen sizzling songs.

“Life Is a Cabaret” runs through May 20 at Quality Hill Playhouse, 303 W. 10th Street, Kansas City, Mo. For tickets, call 816-421-1700 or visit www.QualityHillPlayhouse.com.

CHEF WITH LOCAL TIES FEATURED — Israeli chef Moshe Basson, who has forged friendships with many members of Congregation Ohev Sholom and has appeared at KosherFest (which returns this year June 3), was featured in the March 30 edition of The Forward. The story, “Top Chef Forages for Ingredients and More: Moshe Basson Heads to Hills for Greens and Culinary History” can be found at: http://www.forward.com/articles/153527/top-chef-forages-for-ingredients-and-more/?p=all#ixzz1qu0xWQnj.

As Jews, we think of miracles at Chanukah when the oil lasted for eight days instead of one. We also think of miracles when the Red Sea parted, allowing our ancestors to continue fleeing Egypt even after the Egyptian army began pursuit.

It’s a sure bet that another miracle will be celebrated at the Blanks family seder this year. They will celebrate the health of their 17-year-old son Noah.

Why are they celebrating Noah’s health? In December, they were told he had a rare syndrome where most patients either die or become completely paralyzed. Noah, however, is getting stronger every day.

‘Life changed forever’

This story begins on Nov. 3 in Bloomington, Ill. Noah, a member of Congregation Beth Torah, said his “life changed forever” while he was attending the NFTY Missouri Valley Fall Chavurah. As ruach chair (a fundraising vice president), he was running around doing all the things an officer needs to do when getting ready for a program when he suddenly blacked out for a few seconds.

“When my mind came back together, I didn’t have any feeling from the hips down,” he said.

Noah “didn’t freak out” right away because he had had some difficulties before relating to a cyst he has in his lower back. But he did think he should tell his mother, Shari Blank. He texted her, relaying that he didn’t have any feeling in his legs. Shari called him immediately, insisting he contact his doctor, Jonathan Jacobs, M.D. Dr. Jacobs instructed Noah to go to the hospital in Bloomington.

Noah spent about a day in the Bloomington hospital, but the doctors there couldn’t diagnose the problem.

“They sent me home,” he said. “I had no feeling in my legs at all. I couldn’t walk at all.”

By this time Noah’s parents, Shari and Mitchell Blank, had arrived in Bloomington to be with their son. They drove Noah back to Kansas City because the doctors didn’t think it was a good idea for Noah to fly home.

Noah’s health continued to deteriorate during the eight-hour trip.

“On the car ride home I lost all the feeling in my left arm and on the right side of my face,” Noah said.

Noah’s mystery paralysis began on Saturday, Nov. 5. He was back in KC in time to keep an appointment he coincidentally already had with a neurosurgeon on Monday, Nov. 7.

“That doctor had no idea what was wrong, either,” Noah said.

He was then referred to a neurologist. Noah said he was in extreme pain and was having difficulty getting an appointment with the neurologist, so he decided to pursue a different strategy.

Noah is friends with Jason Arkin. Jason’s parents both happen to be neurologists. So Noah called Jason and explained the situation.

“I did not want to wait five days to see a neurologist when I couldn’t walk and I was in extreme pain,” Noah said.

Six days after the initial paralysis began, Nov. 9, Karen Arkin, M.D., admitted Noah to St. Luke’s South. He stayed there until Nov. 13.

“Those were the longest five days of my life,” he said.

Noah underwent a multitude of tests including MRIs, brain scan, CAT scan and spinal tap. He was also placed on IV steroids.

After Dr. Arkin consulted with a spinal cord expert in Dallas and a week after the mystery began, she diagnosed Noah with a very rare syndrome known as fibro cartilage embolus. It’s generally only found in children and adolescents.

According to Dr. Arkin, there are discs in between the vertebrae in the spinal cord. During adolescence there is a fluid pulp inside the discs. A little piece of Blank’s fluid disc material got out into the arteries that supply his spinal cord with blood. It went to three different places in his spinal cord. These caused Blank to have three small strokes in his spinal cord.

In every other case she’s researched, the patient has either died or stayed completely paralyzed. But she believes Noah will make a complete recovery and never experience this again.

Noah’s recovery

Noah had been diagnosed and was able to leave the hospital, but he wasn’t well.

“I was talking so slowly you couldn’t understand me. I had a little feeling back in my legs but I was not walking well at all. Then about three or four days after I got home from the hospital I had totally reached a plateau,” he explained.

A few days after his release from the hospital, he was to begin physical therapy.

“I was so bad when I went to physical therapy. My physical therapist said right off the bat I needed to go back into the hospital for in-patient rehab,” he said.

It was now a month after the initial paralysis began. He began in-patient rehab on Dec. 3 and was released after a week on Dec. 10.

Five months later, he still wears a bioness machine on his right leg. It’s made in Israel and he said it’s awesome.

“It’s literally electrotherapy,” he explained. “I have a gate sensor on my knee and the bottom of my shoe and automatically when I take a step the machine sends a message down my nerves and my foot pops up so I don’t drag my foot on the ground when I walk.”

Even today, Noah said he still battles horrible migraine headaches. When he has those migraines, he said his “speech totally slows down.” It was around mid-January before he felt his mental state and his speech “started totally coming back.”

None of this was easy for the Blue Valley Northwest senior.

“When I first got home from the hospital, I became completely depressed,” he said. “I was crying and I was totally out of it.”
He said his family and friends were there to support him every step of the way.

“My friends came over every single day after school. My house at times was packed with friends, which wasn’t always good because I was always feeling sick,” he said.

Dr. Arkin said Noah handled everything very maturely.

“Most teenagers would be crying and rude. Noah was gracious to every single person who came into his room. He knew them by first name and even sat at the nurses’ station at night visiting with them,” Dr. Arkin said.

“It was such a joy to see him get better,” she continued. “I told his parents they should be proud of the way they raised him.”

Academic achievements

Noah returned to school with the rest of his classmates after winter break and has been attending regular classes. But now he gets extra time on assignments and tests because his cognitive ability and his organizational ability aren’t totally back yet.

Yet he was mentally sharp enough to compete with his school’s “We the People” team that won the Kansas state competition on Jan. 31. A group of about 17 from Blue Valley Northwest will travel to Washington, D.C., for the national competition April 27 through May 1. That’s an accomplishment that made his grandmother, Sue Miller, extraordinarily proud.

One thousand high school students from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will participate in We the People. The three-day competition on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights will be held on the campus of George Mason University and in U.S. House of Representatives hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. Since the inception of the We the People program in 1987, more than 30 million students and 90,000 teachers have participated in the program.

“We get very well versed in government. We read books and study Supreme Court cases …,” Noah explained.

Noah will also graduate with his class in May. He is in the process of deciding where he wants to go to school and has narrowed his choices to University of Michigan, American University in Washington, D.C., DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., or the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

A life devoted to women’s rights is one way to define Barbara Holzmark, this year’s recipient of the Dr. George Tiller Courage Award. The Kansas Choice Alliance presented Holzmark with the award on March 14 in Topeka during its annual Voices for Choice event. She has been fighting the battle for a woman’s right to control her own health for more than 25 years. It is a battle that is still at the forefront of politics today.

Holzmark’s work in advocacy began in earnest through the National Council of Jewish Women, Kansas City Section and her work with the Kansas State PTA, when she was placed on the Kansas Governor’s Commission on Education for Parenthood. As a member of the Governor’s Commission in 1985, she was asked to work on a project concerning the topic of Sex Education in the Home, School and Community. Eventually the Governor’s Commission and the PTA conducted a survey to find out what type of sex education was happening in Kansas. The results of the survey led to the mandate on human sexuality and AIDS education that started in the Kansas schools in 1987.

“1987 was my big year,” Holzmark said. “That is the year of my turning point in realizing what I can do. It became the time when I became more active. I went to DC with NCJW and met with legislators. I knew how to do it because I had been going to Topeka. It was natural for me.”

In July of 1989, Holzmark finished her NCJW presidency. She was sent to Wichita to represent the local NCJW Section at a meeting when the Kansas Choice Alliance (KCA) was formed, and became the alliance’s first treasurer.

“As soon as I could, I had a program with NCJW and Comprehensive Health for Women, which eventually became Planned Parenthood,” she added.

By now she had also become an active volunteer in Operation Rescue in Wichita, and in January 1990 Holzmark helped found the Roe v. Wade celebration, which was held every January in Topeka. Now it is called Voices for Choice, and this is the second year it was held in March.

Her work for women’s rights has not gone unnoticed.

“The Dr. George Tiller Courage Award was created to recognize individuals who have shown extraordinary courage in standing up for women’s rights and access to comprehensive reproductive health care in Kansas,” said Sheila Kostas, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

“This year’s recipient, Barbara Holzmark, was also a founding member of the Kansas Choice Alliance …. not only was she at the table as a representative of NCJW when the Kansas Choice Alliance was formed in 1989, she has continued to serve as the driving force of KCA for the past 23 years as an ever present voice in the fight to protect reproductive rights and choice in Kansas.”

Holzmark is currently president of KCA.

“My advocacy is in real life issues,” she said. “It is these real life issues that have taken me above and beyond. I cannot stand the thought that women in their own homes cannot do what they want to do. I see it as a Conservative view on wanting to turn the clock back on Roe. I think that is their aim in life. As soon as Roe is no longer legal, they will be happy. I think it is more than just a war on women.”

A recipient of NCJW’s highest award, the Hannah G. Solomon Award, in 2000, Holzmark would love to see more women become active in advocacy.

“I now tell people that I am 100 percent for choice without any restrictions because it is up to a woman to do what she wants to do with her body, her health after conferring with those she wants to confer with,” she said. “It is called respect. We have to respect how they feel, so why can’t they respect how we feel.”

“If the America Medical Association can say this is a safe operation and they do not declare it harmful for women, why are we concerned,” she added.

Holzmark is honored to receive the Dr. George Tiller Award.

“It is quite an honor,” she said. “I guess because I have been in it for so long, someone has recognized me. I am not looking for honor or glory, I always wanted what was best for women.”

“In honoring Barbara with the Dr. George Tiller Courage Award,” Kostas said when presenting the award to Holzmark, “I’m reminded of Dr. Tiller’s bravery and courage, but also of his unique way of teaching by example …. Barbara is a shining example of what it means to be courageous as we work to provide compassionate care to women in need. Barbara is also a shining example of what it means to be courageous when it comes to standing strong and unwavering in this fight. …

“Barbara has been a stalwart supporter and anchor for all of us as we’ve faced challenge after challenge and assault after assault on women’s health in the Kansas Legislature. Through it all, she has always maintained a smile and positive attitude while doing everything she could to encourage others to join the fight.”

Rita Blitt’s short film, “Collaborating with the Past,” has been selected for showing at the Kansas City FilmFest. Blitt’s short will be shown prior to “Andrew Bird: Fever Year” at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, at AMC Mainstreet 6 located at 1400 Main Street in downtown Kansas City. It will be shown again at 8:15 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at the Ward Parkway 14 located at 8600 Ward Parkway, also preceding “Andrew Bird: Fever Year.”

Blitt created her 10-minute multi-media work “Collaborating with the Past” in homage to the Jewish artists whose works were silenced by Hitler. These drawing were made while she listened to the music of Czech-Jewish composer Pavel Haas at the Aspen Music Festival. Haas’ passionate, evocative music is synchronized with the artist’s spontaneous, minimal line drawings, fading in and out across the screen in expressive, patterns and rhythms.

Haas’s string quartet “From the Monkey Mountains” recalls a happy era of his youth, when he spent summer vacations in the Czech-Moravian Highlands near Brno. The Czech composer studied with Leos Janacek and incorporated elements of folk music and jazz in his compositions. Together with many Jewish musicians, intellectuals, artists and children, Haas was deported by the Nazis to the Terezin transit camp near Prague in 1941. There, he joined colleagues in composing and performing music, despite the brutal conditions of the camp. He died at Auschwitz in 1944 at age 43.

Blitt herself has been described as a conductor of color and light. Her musical, flowing drawings synthesize the spirited movements and lyrical passages of Haas’ composition, as she achieves her own personal and artistic collaboration with the past.

Blitt said creating “Collaborating with the Past” has been a very satisfying experience for her.

“It represents the culmination of an artistic project I’ve been trying to achieve for several years. In 1995, I responded with spontaneous drawings as I sat in a concert hall, listening to the music of the European composers who perished in Hitler’s death camps: Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Hans Krasa, Viktor Ullmann, and Erwin Shulhoff,” she explained.

She said the short film gives her the opportunity “to both share the minimal line drawings I made, with great emotion, and to honor the legacy of those whose creativity was silenced during the Holocaust.”

Blitt noted that both her mother and Haas’ mother were born in Odessa, Russia.

“While working on my film, I realized that had I been living in Russia, I, too, might have been a victim of the Holocaust. The film is a moment in time for the viewer to grasp the magnitude of what has been lost, of what these composers might have produced, had they been able to live and create in freedom, as I have done all my life.”

Blitt’s film premiered at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco in May 2011.

Also the weekend of April 13, a new building will open at the Samuel U. Rogers Clinic in which 100 of Blitt’s works will be on display indefinitely.

Founded in 1996, the Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee presents an annual, juried film festival featuring more than 120 local, regional, national and international films. Traditionally the festival is held in April each year and the general movie-going public is encouraged to attend the screenings. More than $200,000 in cash and prizes have been awarded since 1997. In 2012, a $1,000 cash prize will be awarded for the best short film. Additionally, more than $5,000 in other cash and prizes will be awarded to top juried films.

Panels and workshops are offered during the festival as local filmmakers have the opportunity to meet and learn from other filmmakers who come to Kansas City to judge and speak. In its 16-year history, the festival has attracted more than 250 top filmmakers from around the world to share their work and their insights on filmmaking.

For more information about the Kansas City FilmFest, visit www.kcfilmfest.org.

Six Jewish Korean War veterans — Mel Cosner, Marvin Denton, Jack Hirsekorn, Bob Hoffman, Abe Levine and Stan Silverman — recently met at the Jewish Community Campus to recreate a photo taken in April 1952, 60 years ago, in Seoul, South Korea.

These Jewish men from Kansas City were all serving in the U.S. Army and were trucked to Seoul to be able to take part in a Passover service. Silverman and Cosner served in the same unit. The other four soldiers served in different units. In Seoul, Levine took one photo of the other five men, which was published in The Chronicle in 1952 as well as Stars and Stripes, the U.S. Army newspaper, and then again in The Chronicle’s 75th anniversary special edition in 1975. All of the six soldiers, except Levine, were 22 years old at the time the original photo was taken. Levine was 21.

The six vets believe a total of 800 Jewish soldiers were driven to Seoul for the service that day. Only a service was held, they were not served a Passover meal.

As far as memories of Korea itself, Denton said he still remembers that he’s never been as cold in his life as he was while serving in Korea.

“When I got home I got down on all fours, kissed the ground and said there is no other place like this country. People really don’t realize what we have.”

It had been years since Vicki Belzer worked outside the home; she was very busy raising her two children. With her son and daughter grown, and Belzer now divorced, she was ready to get back out in the work force, and needed help. That’s when a friend told her about Jewish Employment Services and Career Coach Joyce Hill.

“Joyce was so sweet and welcoming,” Belzer said. “She didn’t look at me like I was an idiot because I had little experience.”

Today, Belzer is employed by Eye Associates of Overland Park, working as part of the office staff. She’s grateful for JES and its staff who helped her in the job search.

When Belzer connected with JES, she had a little bit of experience having worked in the optical department at a Target Store.

“I loved meeting the people and helping them choose their glasses,” she said.

However, Belzer left her Target job last summer to spend time with her children and travel to Israel to see her son. Once back home, it was time to go back to work, but she wasn’t sure how to start the process all over again.

“I didn’t have a resume or anything,” Belzer said. “That’s when someone told me about this service. It was so incredible.”

JES has much to offer those in a job search — career assessment, resume development, individualized and group coaching, interviewing and networking skills, job search strategies and connections to jobs. Gayl Reinsch leads the JES team and helps participants make connections in the job market and search for existing employment opportunities. JES holds monthly Job Club meetings and skills-building workshops as well as providing the services of two career coaches —  Hill and Cari Boasberg — to help members of the community land employment.

Belzer  attended a Job Club meeting then made an appointment with Hill, who asked helpful questions.

“She would ask me specific things, and she gave me homework to think about,” Belzer said. “It helped me highlight my skills.”

With Hill’s help, Belzer put together a resume, received training on interviewing and networking skills and headed out to find a job, which she got right away as a medical technician. After a month, she decided to look for another position that had more people contact; that’s when she joined Eye Associates.

“The company I work for is so service oriented and people oriented,” she said. “I love it.”

Belzer gives much credit to JES for helping her land her current position.

“They were invaluable,” she said of the JES staff. “I never felt rushed. They were welcoming, respectful, regardless of my non-professional position.”

Working with JES gave Belzer confidence and peace of mind.

“It gave me a sense of comfort. If I had questions I could get them answered and if they couldn’t answer them, they would find someone who could,” Belzer said.

By contacting JES, “it opened this door and there was this big ray of sunshine,” Belzer said. “I was really taken care of.”
Weekly orientation sessions jumpstart the process for new job seekers. For date and time contact JES at or (913) 327-8278.

Upcoming JES programs include the April 23 Job Club that will feature a LinkedIn demonstration (4-7 p.m.) and the April 26 Networking Happy Hour (5:30-6:30 p.m.) in the Galleria of the Jewish Community Campus’ theatre entrance. Belzer has some advice for others looking for a job.

“Take advantage of this service and use it to its fullest. It’s amazing,” she said.

JES is a joint program of Jewish Family Services and Jewish Vocational Service that connects members of the Jewish community with jobs. JES is funded by The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, the Lowenstein Brothers Foundation, the Jewish Heritage Foundation the Morgan Family Foundation and the Sosland Foundation

“Pass Over to Freedom” by Libi Astaire (Aster Press e-book, 2012)

Libi Astaire, a writer who grew up in the Kansas City Jewish community and now lives in Jerusalem, has just published this, the third in her e-book series of Chassidic/Jewish stories for the holidays.

Subtitled “15 Jewish Tales for Passover,” this book gives insights to the seder as well as a story for each of the seder’s 15 steps.

“The Passover seder is a time when Jewish families around the world gather together to retell the story of the Jewish people’s passage from slavery in Egypt to freedom,” Astaire writes in her introduction. This journey is through the Haggadah but to enrich the experience, she suggests reading a story from the Sages with each step.

Each step is explained and a provocative idea is introduced for the reader to ponder. What confused me was whether the rabbi mentioned in her introduction is the actual author of the story that follows. At the end are biographical notes for 31 rabbis, but they are not specifically identified with a story.

Nevertheless, all of the stories are delightful to read. For example, for the Hamotzi, “Monkeys from Heaven” is a story by Rabbi Elimelech of  Lyzhensk; for dipping the vegetable in salt water we read “Are You Growing?” a story of Rabbi Hillel of Kolomaya; for Hillel’s sandwich, “Hold the Wry,” retells a story of Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov.

The earlier e-books on Chassidic/Jewish stories are: “36 Candles: Chassidic Tales for Chanukah” and “Choose Life! 8 Chassidic Stories for the Jewish New Year.” Astaire is also the author of “Terra Incognito,” a fascinating story of descendants in Spain of anusim, Jews forced to convert to Christianity in the Middle Ages.

She is also author of “The Disappearing Dowry,” a Jewish historical mystery set in England which won the 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book Award (an annual award to outstanding books for children and teens which authentically portray the Jewish experience, by the Association of Jewish Libraries), and part of the Ezra Melamed Mystery Series, an imprint of Zahav/Targum Press.

Astaire’s mother, Ruth Feinberg, still lives in Prairie Village.