When native Kansas Citian Corey Helfand was in first grade, he played “the rabbi” in a siddur celebration at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. So his longtime HBHA friends weren’t surprised when he changed his focus at Washington University from pre-med to the rabbinate.

“I’m a pre-med dropout,” he said in a recent interview. “I did two years of chemistry and biology and decided the relationship was over.” Though his major remained Judaic studies and political science even while he was pre-med, he realized that his goal of helping people could only be achieved by going to rabbinical school.

“I took a year off after college to study in Israel,” he explained, “to determine if the rabbinate was really the right path for me.” A 2005 cum laude graduate of Wash U, Helfand graduated in May with 26 others from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and also earned a Master of Arts degree in Talmud and rabbinics and pastoral care.

At only 28, newly-ordained Rabbi Helfand is one of eight rabbinic graduates to receive full-time positions as senior pulpit rabbis; six others will be assistant rabbis. Peninsula Sinai Congregation in Foster City, Calif., a 215-member Conservative congregation, located north of Palo Alto, will be Helfand’s new home.

The son of Richard and Vicki Helfand, Rabbi Helfand is no stranger to the organized Jewish world; he describes his parents as “engaged and empowered.” They are active members of Congregation Ohev Sholom and both volunteered at HBHA when Corey and his younger brothers, Ethan and David, were students. Richard is International Secretary of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and Vicki is active with Ohev’s Sisterhood.

Rabbi Helfand also credits HBHA with sparking his interest in Judaism. “I had some great Hebrew teachers — Sari Havis and Edna Meltzer,” he said, “and I loved the curriculum.” He also cites his high school experiences in BBYO and USY — including USY Pilgrimage to Israel summer trip for teens and March of the Living — as developing his love for Israel and the Jewish people.

“Teens want something meaningful,” he said, “something out-of-the-box.” While a student rabbi at Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel in Riverdale, just north of JTS, Helfand started a Jewish Teens for Justice. Under the mentorship of Rabbi Barry Dov Katz, “We discussed hot-button issues that culminated in a teen service trip to New Orleans,” Helfand said, adding that the group also initiated get-togethers with a youth group from the East Bronx. He wants to do that at Peninsula Sinai as well.

That’s not all he has planned. Building on his experience as a Gladstein Fellowship rabbinic intern in North Carolina, Rabbi Helfand would like to expand his weekly Torah commentary to include one-on-one prayer, meet members and others on their turf, and initiate a “listening tour.”

“Corey’s leadership skills come from a rare combination of empathy, instinct and knowledge,” said Ned Gladstein, a JTS board member who created the Gladstein Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Rabbinics. “His listening skills are extraordinary, and enable him to understand the key points, as well as needs of people on various sides of an issue, to craft unique and effective solutions. He has gained the respect and affection of his congregants and peers alike, and, I’m sure, will continue to touch many people with his kindness.”

But Rabbi Helfand doesn’t want the synagogue to become his only focus: “I want the community to be my agenda. I want Judaism to be accessible.” He doesn’t want to wait for Jews to come to him and hopes to offer classes at participants’ homes or offices, or even local colleges. “I want to meet new people, not just synagogue members. Everyone wants to be heard,” he said. “And it’s my job to listen.”

The interview process is where this goal became most apparent for him. He was asked: “How are you going to fix all our problems?” He countered with “What do you love about this place?” And he discovered that many search committee members were passionate about their synagogue. “So many people have great ideas, but they don’t know what to do about it,” Rabbi Helfand said. “What you do (at a synagogue) should reflect your goals and mission.”

And in order to do that, he would like to conduct “listening campaigns” at Peninsula Sinai. “I’d like to train people to lead them, take notes and bring them back to leadership,” he added. He described one instance where someone asked about suffering in Judaism. “Was he asking about something theological or something personal?” he asked himself. “If it’s personal, I don’t want to miss that. If he’s hurting, I want to hear the story.”

Rabbi Helfand’s list of awards and prizes demonstrate that listening and follow-up are his great strengths. From valedictorian of HBHA to Dean’s List and the Steven Schwarzchild Prize for Outstanding Undergraduates for academic achievement at Wash U, Rabbi Helfand added several more awards at JTS. He won three prizes for outstanding work in Talmud as well as one for Hebrew literature.

“Since I began rabbinic school, I have reaffirmed my love of studying Torah, practicing the tradition, being a presence in the lives of others, and being part of a learning/spiritual community,” he said, “where you can learn as much, if not more, from those you teach.”

Married to Jennifer Ackerman of Dallas, the couple have an 8-month-old daughter, Eden Leora.

The couple met during Corey’s post-college year in Israel at the Conservative Yeshiva. She was studying for a master’s degree in public health at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. “Jenny’s twin brother learned two desks over from me at the same yeshiva. She would frequently visit as well as participate in programs at the yeshiva,” he recalled. “One afternoon, Jenny and I were sitting at the same table. The conversation turned to cooking and I mentioned that I bake challah. We had our first date a couple of months later; we baked challah for Shabbat. The rest is history!”

In addition to internships in Riverdale and North Carolina, Rabbi Helfand also worked at Congregation Hakrayot in Kiryat Bialik near Haifa for a year. He was the first American rabbi to intern at a Masorti (traditional Conservative) synagogue in Israel, serving with the congregation’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Mauricio Balter. “Having met Jenny in Israel, I thought it fitting to spend our first year of marriage back in Jerusalem,” he said. And, “this was the first time I had taken classes in Hebrew, which I found to be challenging yet fulfilling.”

As to the challenges of being the young rabbi of an established congregation, Rabbi Helfand said, “Now more than ever, rabbis of today are more aware of the issues facing American Jewry, specifically in the Conservative Movement. I find that younger rabbis approach Judaism through social justice, community organizing, ethics and values. At the same time, the continuing struggle for any rabbi is to make Judaism exciting and enticing, without pushing anyone away.”

By the way, Rabbi Helfand almost became Cantor Helfand. His love of hazzanut (cantorial music) comes from his relationship with “Cantor Cyrus Spungen, of blessed memory, who helped me fall in love with Jewish liturgy and Torah,” when he became Bar Mitzvah at Beth Shalom.

“I actually applied to both rabbinical school and cantorial school. While I knew a tremendous number of the melodies (nusach) I knew almost no musical theory,” he smiled.

“Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll be a singing rabbi!”

Orit Kamara teaches Hebrew at Johnson County Community College. It’s no secret the junior college offers the course and it’s easy to find by searching JCCC’s online catalog. But Kamara said not many people really know it’s available.

JCCC started offering Elementary Hebrew 1 in fall 2009. When those who enrolled wanted to continue learning Hebrew at a higher level, Kamara met with JCCC officials and convinced them to begin offering Elementary Hebrew 2 in the spring of 2010. When classes begin on Aug. 23, this will be the fourth time that JCCC has offered Hebrew 1 with Kamara as its teacher.

Kamara, a native of Israel, moved to the United States 10 years ago because her husband, Efi, works for Amdocs. The Kamara family moved to Kansas City eight years ago. Their two daughters graduated from Blue Valley Northwest High School. Gili is now in the Israeli army and Lior is studying to be a veterinarian at Kansas State University.

This isn’t the first time JCCC has offered a Hebrew class. Alan Edelman, the associate executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City and the director of CAJE, Federation’s educational arm, taught one at least 15 or 20 years ago. Kamara said the Federation’s first Israeli shaliach (emissary) Nisan Gez, tried to get JCCC to offer Hebrew once again when he first came here about five years ago.

The class almost didn’t get off the ground because it didn’t have a teacher. A student who had enrolled in the class and didn’t want it cancelled called Kamara, knowing that she tutored Hebrew, and suggested she apply for the opening.

Only beginning Hebrew was offered originally. It is described on the JCCC website as a basic course where students study the four areas of Hebrew language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

“This course requires intensive classroom interaction as well as additional out-of-class assignments. Exposure to aspects of Israeli culture will be integrated into this course,” the description states.

The teacher said the class is very much a college-level course with quizzes, tests and homework.

“You need to be on top of the work all the time,” Kamara said.

The class can accommodate 17 students and as of Monday, July 25, there were still four openings for the 5-hour credit course. Enrollment will be accepted only until the first day of class, Aug. 23. JCCC is not allowing any late enrollment this semester.

Cost for a credit hour at JCCC varies from $81 to $189, depending on the student’s residential status. For a Johnson Country resident, the course will cost $405. Kamara points out that the class is much less expensive here than at other universities. (For instance, an undergraduate resident at the University of Kansas, where Hebrew classes are also offered, pays $238.90 total per credit hour.)

Because some students don’t want the stress of a credit class but still want to learn Hebrew, Kamara said JCCC will begin offering a non-credit Hebrew class in spring of 2012. The eight-week course will begin March 28, 2012, and take place for two hours on Wednesday nights.

JCCC decided to offer the non-credit course because of the demand. The same is true for the Hebrew 2 class. Kamara said several students wanted to continue their studies and the college complied with her request to add a more advanced class, which began this past spring. Now Hebrew 1 is offered in the fall and Hebrew 2 is offered in the spring.

“Juco is always very supportive of their staff,” Kamara said. “They really worked with me to make it happen for a semester.”

Kamara now also teaches an independent study Hebrew 3 class. It came about when one of her students from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where Hebrew is not offered, needed another consecutive language course to fulfill graduation requirements.

“I consulted with the dean and the head of the foreign language department at JCCC to help him find a solution to this problem. We decided to let him take Hebrew 3 as independent study. He was able to graduate and now is attending medical school,” Kamara said.

She said her class over the years has always included an unusual blend of students.

“It’s a very unique atmosphere. Students take this class because they really, really want to learn Hebrew,” she said.

Her youngest student so far was 17 years old and her oldest was a retired doctor in his 80s. Students of a variety of religions, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, have enrolled in her Hebrew classes.

“We’ve had some very positive dialogues in this class. These students really want to learn about each other,” she said.

The book Kamara uses is the same one that is used at Israeli ulpans (Hebrew language classes.) It not only includes Hebrew language instruction, but also information about Jewish traditions and Israeli culture.

“This book makes it easy to start Hebrew classes here and transfer to other places,” Kamara said. She’s already had students transfer to UMKC and KU.

Her Israeli accent, Kamara said, helps students learn the proper pronunciation of Hebrew words.

“They also like the fact that I can relate to Israeli culture and the students can ask me questions about things they can’t find in the book,” she said.

This spring, in conjunction with JCCC, Kamara will also lead a trip to Israel. The trip will last 10 days and the group — which can accommodate up to 20 participants — will leave Kansas City on March 8. The total estimated cost for this trip is $3,300, including the flight. It is a non-credit offering open to the entire community.

“I expect a wide range of ages and religions will be interested in being a part of it,” said Kamara, who tries to go to Israel to visit family once a year.

When you think of summer camp, you think of swimming, sports and arts and crafts. For 160 campers from 26 countries, eCamp is “the ultimate summer experience in Israel,” creating, inventing and designing projects in technology workshops with the 120 computers and exploring Israeli technology.

For Adam Sitzmann, son of Congregation Beth Shalom members Wendy and Jeff Sitzmann, being a counselor “was a way to get back” to Israel. Sitzmann, who is a graduate of Blue Valley West High School, participated in the one-month-long Israel Journey program in 2009 and subsequently heard about the eCamp from Nir Gad, who served as the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s shaliach (emissary) from 2007-2009. Gad is now the camp’s assistant director, which is in its fourth year of operation.

Sitzmann says he applied for the job on line and was accepted for the seven-week position.

“This is like my gap year, but it’s only for the summer,” explained the 18 year old, who will be a freshman in the fall at the University of Michigan. He plans to major in psychology.

“I make videos for the Facebook page for the parents every day. This is the first time the camp has video bloggers creating the daily activities of the campers. I also teach a lab in video filming,” says Sitzmann. On the Facebook page of eCamp, Sitzmann can be seen interviewing campers about their daily life.

“I love being in Israel. I enjoy being able to utilize my abilities to make movies and teach that to other people. It’s a great way to utilize my skills while being in a country where everyone I meet is Jewish. eCamp is a fun environment, working with specialized staff,” says Sitzmann.

Gad explains that the staff of 36 come from Israel and six countries, are all over the age of 18 and are all professionals in the fields they teach. The camp is held at Meir Shfeya, a residential youth village of Hadassah, near Zichron Yaacov, about two hours northwest of Jerusalem, and provides programs for each age group. Campers are 8 to 18 and come for one, two or three two-week sessions. The Kilobyte unit is for those entering grades three to seven; there are four campers to a room and one counselor for each six campers in this age group. The Megabyte unit is for those entering grades 8 and 9. The Gigabyte unit are for those entering grades 10 to 12.

The language of the camp is English. Campers attend three technology workshops (called labs) of their choosing (all done on computers except ones like digital photography, video filming and entrepreneurship), between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. with up to eight people. At the conclusion of each session, each camper has a final project. They also have one and a half hours a day “unplugged” when they participate in sports and recreation. They also have rest time, access to a canteen in which to purchase snacks, unit activities and camp-wide programs. The camp also brings entrepreneurs from Israel’s high-tech industries to share their experiences with the campers.

“Our goal is to get our campers to explore the success of the high-tech world in Israel,” says Gad. “We connect campers to Israel, introduce them to Israelis who will become their friends and show them modern Israel.”

For Sitzmann, being a counselor at eCamp is very unique because he is in a program where he gets professional experience in a workplace with creative people from all over the world.

“I feel immersed in the culture,” said Sitzmann. “On my day off, I went to another counselor’s apartment, I went to restaurants, I went windsurfing in the Mediterranean, I walked around Tel Aviv, I got to see neighborhoods and I got to live with Israelis.”

Gad is part of the staff of four who work out of an office in the town of Kfar Saba during the winter. The camp is a for-profit camp and self supporting. Its “parent” company, Oranim, has brought Jewish young people to Israel on educational programs for the past 26 years. Oranim was recently purchased by Egged Tours, part of the National bus company.

FIVE-TIME GOLD MEDALIST — Earlier this month Alan Poisner participated in the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sacramento, Calif., where 4,500 athletes from all over the world competed in track and field events. Competitors ranged in age from 35 to 100. Poisner competed in the 75-79 age division where he won two gold medals, in the 5,000-meter racewalk on a college track and in the 10,000 meter road racewalk at a local park. Competitors came from all over the world. He also won a gold medal for being on the top team in the 10K race where they count the top three fastest times (Poisner’s was the fastest for the United States).

In June Poisner competed in the National Senior Olympics Games in Houston, where he won two more gold medals, winning the 1,500 meters and 5K racewalks.

Each time Poisner won a medal at the WMA championships, he received his medal at a ceremony much like those conducted at the Olympics, where he got to stand on the top step of the podium and listen to the national anthem. The WMA championships are held every two years and this was the first time in 16 years the competition has been held in the United States.

Poisner has been president of the Heartland Racewalkers Club for 16 years, which sent 10 members to the National Senior Olympics this year. He took up racewalking 26 years ago. Anyone interested in learning more about the club can visit www.heartlandracewalkers.com.

GIVING JOPLIN A BOOST — Congregation Beth Torah members plan to spend the day volunteering in tornado ravaged Joplin Sunday, Aug. 7. Volunteers will caravan from Beth Torah, leaving at 7 a.m. Due to the heat and the nature of the work, participants of all ages are asked to consider their physical stamina before signing up. Earlier this summer members of CBT teamed up with members of Congregation BIAV for a similar mitzvah day. For reservations or more details, contact Aaron Nielsenshultz at either or (913) 206-0383.

THINKING AHEAD TO ROSH HASHANAH — The Jewish Chronicle is working on the annual Rosh Hashanah publication and we need the help of Jewish organizations, congregations, agencies, foundations and other Jewish groups. Please send us your calendar of special events for the upcoming year (October 2011 through September 2012) so we can add them to our calendar. We are looking for special events that are being planned now for the upcoming year that appeal to the entire Jewish community.

In order for these events to be considered for placement in the calendar, please send them to us no later than Aug. 10. These can be sent to or .

If you have any questions, call Barbara Bayer, editor, at (913) 951-8425 or Marcia Montgomery, community editor, at (913) 951-8426.

Michael Klein began collecting Judaica quite by accident. Now the owner of between 450 and 500 objects, his collection started with the gift of four antique spice boxes his parents purchased for him while visiting Israel close to 40 years ago. Now his Judaica is the inspiration for a new exhibit, “Between Thee & Me — Artists Respond to the Judaica Collection of Michael Klein and the Van Ackeren Collection of Religious Art at Rockhurst University.”

This project features two independent, invitational group exhibitions, the first of which will be presented at the Epsten Gallery at Village Shalom July 24 through Sept. 4. It opens with a reception at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 24, with an artists’ discussion at 3 p.m. A second group exhibition will be presented at The Greenlease Gallery at Rockhurst University Aug. 26 through Oct. 1.

A select group of artists has been invited to participate in each exhibition by The Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art Curator Marcus Cain and Greenlease Gallery Director Anne Pearce. These artists have been asked to create a work of art based on an object/artifact of their choice from the collection they have been invited to explore. When possible, the object serving as inspiration for the work of art will also be featured in the exhibit.

Klein believes the idea for this exhibition was a great one.

“These artists were able to get inspirations to create new work echoing the older work. Some of these items that stimulated the new works are hundreds of years old,” Klein said.

This exhibit is one of the many ways KCJMCA is commemorating its 20th anniversary this year. This particular idea was conceived by both Cain and Pearce. It also intrigued the two to find a way to explore the relationship between a private collection and a public collection.

“We felt this was a great opportunity to invite artists to create works of art in response to objects that they may or may not normally consider as a source for inspiration,” Cain said.

In all his travels and knowledge of the world of art, Klein said he has never heard of an exhibit where artists were asked to create new work based on existing work. While such an exhibit is unique, Cain said the practice of using other pieces of art as inspiration is “pretty traditional.”

“I think Ann and I both understand as artists that there is a lot of teaching that is based on observation of work in art history,” Cain said. “It’s not a coincidence that you have an art college next to the Nelson-Atkins Museum or that the Nerman Museum is part of Johnson County Community College,” Cain said.

Cain and Pearce also thought this was a great idea to have artists of “multiple faiths or in some cases perhaps no faith to work from these objects.”

An interesting collaboration that came from this, Cain noted, is a sculpture created by Linda Lighton, who is Jewish, and Asheer Akram, who is Pakistani, that references the eternal flame.

Cain said he and Pearce both feel that it is important that these objects from history remain alive.

“They need to remain a viable source of inspiration and they play an active role in the creative process,” Cain said. “It’s a great effort to reconnect with history.”

Klein’s collection

Klein has been reconnecting with history himself since his parents gave him the antique spice boxes that started his Judaica collection.

“They brought me back a mid-19th century Russian spice box. From that I got very interested, and I started reading up on Judaica in general and spice boxes, in particular,” he noted in a story published about his collection in The Chronicle on March 29, 1991.

That’s when he started visiting museums and auction houses.

“When I went to a city, if they had a Jewish museum or something of that nature, I went to it,” he said. Since he travels for business all over the world, he’s been to Jewish museums in such places as London, Israel and Chicago.

“I also got to know many collectors and, like many collectors, before you know it you have a house full of something,” Klein said.

Klein still enjoys discovering new pieces and learning “about Jewish communities and Jewish customs that I didn’t know existed.”

“I like the beauty of the items. With the newer items, I enjoy seeing the creativity of them and meeting the artists that have created those items,” he said.

He also enjoys the intellectual stimulation he gets from all the activities associated with his collection “and the interaction I have with other collectors and museum people.”

“I enjoy the sharing of it with other people so that the items are not just dead and cold in a storage case, but are actually out and being used. That’s what excites me about this show. The artists were able to get inspiration to create new works of art echoing the older works,” Klein said.

Klein’s collection was exhibited at the Epsten Gallery not long after it first opened about a decade ago. He’s also loaned some pieces to shows, but for the most part he said the collection does not leave his home.

Epsten Gallery exhibiting artists

Seven of the artists who will be exhibiting a piece at the Epsten Gallery are Jewish: Tanya Hartman, Ritchie Kaye, Misha Kligman, Linda Lighton, Jason Pollen, Julia Steinberg and Gerry Trilling. The other artists are: Asheer Akram, Barry Anderson, Mark Cowardin, Burton Freeman, Hugh Merrill, Lee Piechocki, Robert Quackenbush and Susan White.

Those exhibiting at the Greenlease Gallery exhibit are: Barry Anderson, John Conners, Anders Corr, Mark Cowardin, Bowie Croisant, Mike Erickson, Julie Farstad, Rachel Hayes, Jessica Kincaid, Susi Lulaki, Hugh Merrill and David Rhoades.

For more information regarding either, contact Cain at (913) 266-8413 or . Learn more about the museum at www.kcjmca.org.

Karen Pack loves Israel. That passion drew her to the Jewish Agency for Israel, the organization that for more than 80 years has served as the link between the Jewish people and Israel, working to ensure the future of a connected, committed, global Jewish people with a strong Israel at its center.

Last month Pack went to Israel, as a member of JAFI’s board of governors, and attended three conferences in Jerusalem — the JAFI Assembly, the JAFI Board of Governors meeting and the President’s Conference. She’s attended the JAFI meetings many times, but was privileged to attend the President’s Conference, led by Israeli President Shimon Peres, for the very first time. As always she returned from Israel energized and full of ways the local Jewish community can continue its support of the Jewish state.

The three conferences, Pack explained, are very different and distinct. For example the President’s Conference is an invitation-only event and JAFI’s Board of Governors meeting is, as it suggests, open solely to board members. But the General Assembly is open to “anyone interested in the business of the Jewish people,” and is indeed attended by a wide-ranging group of people including members of Keren Hayesod, which serves the needs of Jewish communities outside the United States, The Jewish Federations of North America, the World Zionists Organization, ORT and Hadassah. At each meeting Pack had the opportunity to attend large events featuring world renowned keynote speakers and small sessions with a variety of experts on topics relating to Israel, the needs of the Jewish community in Israel and around the world, the global economy, technology and peace and politics in the Middle East.

A meeting veteran — she’s been to at least five JAFI Assemblies — these assemblies still make an impact on her.

“It was an awesome experience to sit in a hall and hear directly from President Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Tzipi Livni, the leader of the opposition, and Natan Sharansky, who is the chair of the Jewish Agency,” she said.

These meetings give Pack a chance to network with Jews from all over the world, who hail from such places as Paris, Buenos Aires and even Moscow. At these times she is reminded that the “very real message is we are all concerned about the same issues.”

Indeed a lot of issues were discussed during those meetings. Three of the most prominent were the delegitimization of Israel, of connecting with the next generation of Jews — in Israel and world wide — and peace with the Palestinians.

“It is critical that both sides in the Middle East return to the negotiating table,” Pack said. “In one session it was stated that 70 percent of the people in Israel support a two-state solution.”

Of course the biggest concern surrounding a two-state solution, Pack said, is exactly how that can be accomplished.

“How can the prime minister’s office negotiate with (Palestinian President) Abbas when he has reached out to Hamas, which is a recognized terrorist organization,” she said. “We were also told that Gaza is booming in building and other areas. Every type of material is being brought in from Egypt. The good and the bad.”

At the JAFI meetings, major discussions were held about its new strategic plans. JAFI will continue to help with aliyah and assist Jews in need around the world. But it will put a greater emphasis on Jewish identity.

“Natan Sharansky spoke with a focus on the importance of cultivating the bond between Israel and the Jewish people, making Jews proud to link themselves to Israel and making Israel accessible to all Jews,” Pack said.

One way JAFI is hoping to strengthen the Jewish community of the future is by bringing Israel to Jews everywhere.

“The Jewish Agency is doing that in the form of Jewish connections and education. We are bringing teens and young adults to Israel through Birthright. And we are bringing Israel to our college campuses and our communities through shlichim (emissaries),” Pack said.

Kansas City currently hosts two emissaries — Lilach Nissim, who began working at the Federation last fall and will return for her second year following a vacation in her homeland, and Noa Nave, who is currently working with Jewish Community Center campers.

Strengthening Jewish identity, she said, is a serious issue worldwide, not just in the United States.

“This is the greatest challenge we currently face as a people. We need to ensure the future of a connected, committed global Jewish population with a strong Israel at its center,” Pack explained.

She said the purpose of having this discussion at the highest levels is that through assimilation, intermarriage and today’s modern society, “people are no longer connecting to a central message.”

“For example we know our young people care about values. But, they haven’t had the education to recognize that those are Jewish values and that we are a Jewish family, regardless of geography. The Jewish Agency, with a very passionate Natan Sharansky at the helm, has taken this on because young Jews today are willing to fund the crisis, but not everyday Jewish life. We’ve become so comfortable with everyday Jewish life in this country that we’ve overlooked the responsibility to make sure we can remain Jewish in a free society.”

In fact, Pack is afraid that we’ve taken our comfortable Jewish life in the United States for granted for so long that in the long run it could mean “that we won’t have a population to support the needs that the Jewish community will have going forward.”

The lack of connection among the Jewish people of the world, according to Pack, combined with the constant vilification of Israel in the United Nations and across the world, is contributing to an extremely serious problem that needs to be resolved. That, she said, is the main reason that JAFI has taken on this new worldwide mission.

“We’ve been talking about these things for years, but it has taken someone like Sharansky, who wasn’t allowed to have his Judaism for much of his life, to centralize the focus on peoplehood and bringing us back together as a people. Without that, how can we meet these challenges if we aren’t a strong and educated people?”

With shrinking funding, Pack said, it will be a challenge to pay for the continued creation of Jewish identity, aliyah, caring for people at risk and Jewish education, but these are all critical.

“Numbers tell the story and our numbers of engaged are shrinking. We need to create and maintain the necessary resources to make sure this happens. If we don’t there will not be a Jewish community to meet these needs in the future.”

Architects describe Theodore Seligson as a legend in the field, and the Temple B’nai Jehudah member still shapes architecture, planning and design in Kansas City.

Seligson’s friends and colleagues created the Seligson Fund for Architecture Urban Planning + Design to ensure that Seligson’s legacy will continue for years to come. The fund will provide guest lecturers on architecture, urban planning and design for students and community members at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Seligson earned an international reputation when he worked for Kivett & Myers, the architectural firm that designed Temple B’nai Jehudah’s sanctuary at 69th and Holmes Streets. The sanctuary was dedicated in 1967 and demolished in 2003 to make way for the University Academy. This sanctuary was displayed at an exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

For more than 40 years, he served as principal at his Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm, which is known as one of the most innovative design practices in the Midwest. Before opening his firm, Seligson worked as head of design for Kivett & Myers, a well-known Kansas City architectural firm. Kivett & Myers also designed Katz Hall, which now houses AUP+D at 5005 Rockhill Road.

The idea for the fund came about approximately six months before Seligson’s 80th birthday, said David Sosland, one of the fund’s founders.

“We wanted to do something special for him to recognize his 80th birthday,” Sosland said.

Sosland’s parents are friends with Seligson.

“I have known Ted my entire life,” Sosland said. “I grew up with Ted and have really been very fortunate to not only have him as a friend but also like a family member.”

When Sosland went into real estate development he said Seligson became a professional mentor to him.

Sosland represents one of many people Seligson has mentored throughout his career. Seligson currently serves as a guest professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has received more than 25 national, regional and local awards for his projects.

Joy Swallow, department chair for the university’s Architecture, Urban Planning + Design program, said the fund will honor Seligson and facilitate the type of dialog he continues to encourage.

“Ted’s the kind of person that looks forward to the next idea,” Swallow said.

Sustainability, urban revitalization and innovative designs are among topics Swallow said could be discussed in the lecture series. She said Seligson’s name will draw the best speakers in the field and she anticipates that the members of the community at large will attend.

“It’s going beyond the boundaries of the profession,” Swallow said.

Seligson said he feels honored to have the fund in his name.

“That was a total surprise,” he said.

Seligson studied architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. He taught at Washington University from 1975 to 1993. During that time Seligson continued to work and live in Kansas City. He commuted to St. Louis for his teaching assignments.

“I was in two cities in a way,” he said. “I had my office here and we were doing a lot of things at the time.”

Seligson said he enjoys his current work with the UMKC’s Architecture Urban Planning + Design program.

The program offers an architecture degree in partnership with Kansas State University. The partnership allows students to study architecture at UMKC for two years and then transfer to K-State to complete a graduate architecture program. The partnership started in 1987 to fill a void in Missouri’s state universities.

“The state of Missouri does not have a state architecture school like Kansas has,” Seligson said.

Missouri residents who want to study architecture in state have to attend a private university such as Washington University.

Through UMKC’s program with K-State, Missouri architecture students can spend their first two years at UMKC and then pay K-State’s in-state fees when they transfer to finish their graduate course work.

In 2002 UMKC expanded its program to include a Bachelor of Arts degree in urban planning and design. Swallow said this degree has helped graduates gain admittance into graduate schools and begin careers across the nation.

“Many of our students have done quite well,” she said. “We have planners employed all the way up to Alaska.”

Seligson said he hopes the fund in his name draws attention to UMKC’s Architecture, Urban Planning + Design program. Seligson helped the university start the program.

“We decided that urban planning and design should be married with architecture,” Seligson said. “The combination of putting planners and designers and architects together is something new.”

Even though UMKC has offered the Bachelor of Arts degree in urban planning and design for nine years, Seligson said many people still do not realize the program exists in Kansas City.

“Very few people realize that we offer this degree,” he said. “These guys that graduate with this degree have the abilities and capabilities of many of these students who graduate with master’s degrees.”

Students in the program helped make plans to rebuild part of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and have consulted with the Kansas City Missouri School board about how to utilize the 39 school buildings the board closed last year, Swallow said.

“There are a lot of community-based projects that we’ve been involved with,” she said.

Richard Ahsmuhs, chairman for the Architecture, Urban Planning + Design Advisory Board, said Seligson is the perfect person to dedicate this fund to and help promote UMKC’s Architecture, Urban Planning + Design program.

“Ted Seligson is quite a name in the architecture field,” Ahsmuhs said. “It’s named after him because it fulfills his goals in making sure people are aware of how important architecture and urban planning is.”

The committee does not have a firm date for when the lecture series will start but Ahsmuhs said he anticipates a large turnout.

“It will appeal to a broad range of people who care about Kansas City,” he said.

A fund to support Jewish art, originally set up about 20 years ago, is being resurrected in the community. Known as the Jewish Art Fund, it is housed at the Jewish Community Foundation and is governed by a committee led by Michael Klein.

Klein said Sybil Kahn and her late husband, Norman, were behind the fund’s inception. Norman, before his death in June, also led the charge earlier this year to bring the fund back to life. The fund’s original purpose was two-fold: to purchase Judaic items for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and to bring an exhibit from the Jewish Museum in New York to Kansas City.

Klein, who was also on the original committee, said the fund did purchase one item of Judaica for the Nelson and succeeded in bringing the art exhibit to Kansas City. After that, however, it sat idle.

“Shortly before his death, Norman Kahn wanted to reactivate the fund. So a new committee was put together,” Klein said. “We’ve done a little fundraising to build up a corpus and we would like to finance projects in the Jewish community dealing with art in the the broadest terms.”

Klein said the corpus of the fund is a little more than $25,000. Grants can be made solely from the fund’s income, which isn’t much at this time.

“That’s why they are currently seeking additional donations,” he said. “We hope that as people learn about the fund, that the corpus will grow and so will the income from it.”

The fund has already made a grant to Village Shalom. It funds an art therapist who works with residents on Fridays.

“She uses that week’s Torah portion as inspiration for the art projects. I think it is a wonderful project because it involves art with the intellectual stimulation of that week’s Torah portion in a creative way to bring out the meaning of that week’s portion,” Klein said.

Before he passed away, Norman Kahn personally asked Klein to take over the fund’s leadership responsibilities.

“The whole start of that committee was really Norman and Sybil Kahn, decades ago. It’s one of the examples of Norman and Sybil Kahn promoting Jewish art in the Kansas City community. That committee is one of their legacies, as is the Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art,” Klein said.

Klein said the fund would like to become a clearing house for matching funders that “would like to do something with the arts in the Jewish community or Jewish art in the general community.” “We would like the funders to call upon the expertise that people on the committee have to make the donations effective for what the donors would like to see,” Klein said.

For more information about the Jewish Art Fund, contact Beatrice Fine at (913) 327-4618.

Yoel Lavi, the mayor of Ramla, Kansas City, Mo., Israeli’s sister city, was in Kansas City last week for a “friendly visit.” The cities have had a relationship since 1995. While here he met for the first time with Mayor Sly James. His U.S. trip will also include stops in Detroit and Chicago.

Lavi said his first priority was to meet friends, including Jim Badzin and Karen Pack. He also took the time to help some Israeli friends meet with local car dealers in an effort to import cars to Israel.
Lavi, who has been mayor of Ramla for 18 years, has plenty of friends here due to the local Jewish community’s close relationship with the Israeli city.

“They take care of our society,” said Lavi. “Just a few weeks ago Karen Pack and Alan Edelman were in my office. They delivered $180,000 for afterschool programs, day care and other such programs. This help is very important for our society.”

Pack said the beauty of sister city relationships is the friendships that are formed.

“It’s not just money. It’s a relationship and these friendships last a lifetime,” Pack said.

Lavi spent Shabbat with Federation President and CEO Todd Stettner, who agreed that the relationships between the people in both cities is more than simply a business one.

“One of the nicest things about the relationship is the personal side. We’ve gotten to know people,” Stettner said. “It’s not just some anonymous community we’re helping.”

“This relationship is very special and we are very fortunate,” Lavi added.

A TIP OF OUR HAT — Loyal reader Marna Dolginoff called Monday in reference to the story about Village Shalom weathering the Water District #1 boil order July 1. A resident of The Villas, the maintenance-free homes located on the Village Shalom campus, she wanted us to know that Concierge Chris Burgos went above and beyond the call of duty delivering water to those homeowners as well. On behalf of those residents, thanks Chris!

TRAGIC ANNIVERSARY — Sunday, July 17, was the 30th anniversary of the Hyatt skywalk collapse. During a tea dance, 114 people were killed and countless others injured when the walkway at the Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed. It remains the deadliest structural collapse in U.S. history other than the terrorists’ acts in New York City and Oklahoma City.

Three members of the Jewish community died in the collapse — Stephen Hershman, Robert Jonas and Paul William “Pete” Winett. Sol Koenigsberg and his wife, Rosette, were among those injured the night of the accident.

Koenigsberg, a former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, is the adviser for the Skywalk Memorial Foundation committee. He said he is certain that a memorial will be built.

“It will take a bit of time because the fundraising pace has to be picked up. We will be persistent,” he said. So far approximately $370,000 has been raised toward the $800,000 needed to build the memorial at Hospital Hill Park near Children’s Mercy Hospital. Koenigsberg said it could take a number of months before the fundraising goal is achieved.

The Skywalk Memorial Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit corporation committed to honoring and remembering the 114 people who lost their lives and those who were injured by the tragic events. Through the planning, design and construction of a permanent memorial, the Foundation also seeks to recognize and honor the emergency/medical personnel, firefighters, police officers, public servants and others who so bravely responded to this unprecedented disaster.

The memorial will feature a sculpture designed by Kansas Citian Rita Blitt. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.skywalkmemorial.org.

VOTE FOR THE DEAD SEA — The Israeli Ministry of Tourism is urging everyone to vote for the Dead Sea in the New 7 Wonders of Nature Competition. Voting will continue through Nov. 11. The New 7 Wonders of Nature Competition gives travelers, nature-lovers and all others from around the world an opportunity to name seven new wonders of the natural world from among 28 candidates, including the Dead Sea. If you don’t already know how amazing the Dead Sea is, or if you want to just re-experience it virtually, check out a new Dead Sea video from the Israel Ministry of Tourism at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xTB7bmmxCA&feature=youtube_gdata_player. Supporters of the Dead Sea can vote through social media sites at www.facebook.com/VoteDeadSea or www.twitter.com/VoteDeadSea; or through the official campaign site, www.votedeadsea.com. In the words of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: “Vote for the Dead Sea. It is very much alive.” You can also learn more about the other 27 candidates at www.new7wonders.com.

APPEARING AT STARLIGHT — Once again Grant Karpin is appearing at Starlight, this time in “Cinderella,” which will run July 25 through July 31. He is a member of the Blue Star All Star Chorus. The 13-year-old played the role of Louis Leonowens in “The King and I” earlier this summer. For ticket information, visit www.kcstarlight.com.

Correction

The Business & Professionals event with Tom and Henry Bloch on Thursday, July 28, begins at 6:30 p.m., not 6 p.m. as stated in last week’s paper.