Now officially a senior in high school, Mollie Chesis could probably teach classes on organizational skills.  In order to do everything this Blue Valley High School student does, she must stay organized and on schedule.

“I am a very organizationally-minded person,” Mollie said. “So I get a lot of enjoyment out of planning and putting together programs.”

Mollie had a lot of practice doing just that last year when she served as president of Beth Torah Temple Youth Group (BTTY). Planning events and watching them come to fulfillment gives Mollie pleasure.

“When everything comes together perfectly, the left-brain side of me screams with joy,” she said. “Then, when actually at the event, and I see everyone enjoying themselves, talking and really becoming a part of a community, the right-brain side of me is bursting with happiness. It’s a win-win situation with me.”

Her activities at Beth Torah do not stop with her commitment to the Temple Youth Group. She also has been a madricha for the Weiner Religious School for three years and on Sunday mornings volunteers to help lead religious services for the students. For the coming school year, she has agreed to chair NFTY’s Missouri Valley Regional Spring Chavurah, the largest regional event of the year.

“Mollie is one of the most responsible teens I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with,” said Marcia Rittmaster, religious school and youth groups director for Beth Torah. “She understands her position as a role model with younger teens in always being inclusive and interested in others. She also has many talents such as drama, art and music and is willing to share those talents.”

She has truly enjoyed her time as BTTY president.

“I have found a real and true happiness in BTTY,” Mollie said. “I had been worried when I first got involved that it was not going to be something I found truly enjoyable; I was completely wrong. The sense of pride and accomplishment — the true passion I have for BTTY and what we do — that comes from the happiness I see when I meet people at events and they want to keep coming back.”

The daughter of Paul and Julie Chesis, Mollie excels in school as well as at synagogue. A member of the French Honor Society, Art Honor Society and National Honor Society, Mollie will be attending two programs at Brown University this summer. She will split her time between two topics she loves, one week of writing and two weeks learning about infectious diseases. Eventually Mollie plans to be a physician focusing her talents on either infectious disease or endocrinology.

Her commitment to helping others is already apparent. Mollie donates blood almost every two months.

“As a person, my motto in life is ‘do anything I can to help others,’ ” Mollie said. “I feel the happiest seeing smiles form on others’ faces. That is why I work so hard to give back to my community.”

Among her community service efforts she is working on her Girl Scout Gold Award. Mollie is creating a documentary video about teens with mental illness and fighting the stigma of these diseases. She hopes it will help teens in the community.

“A lot of people have depression and ADHD,” Mollie said. “It would be better if people could be more accepting of others. Mental illness affects teens and young adults. We need to help these people.”

Besides her schoolwork, her volunteer activities and her community service, Mollie finds time for activities she loves like being a part of the Fifth Wall Improv Comedy Troupe. The group puts on shows about once a month either at Blue Valley High School or around the community. They even performed at a BTTY event.

She recently participated in the National Forensics Competition in Dallas as an entry in the Dramatic Interpretation competition. To go to the national competition, a student has to place first or second in district competitions. Although Mollie did not place in the national competition, she was proud to make it to the semi-finals.

But the truth to the focus and core of Mollie is her commitment to enjoy life and to help others.

“I love knowing that I can make things better for others,” Mollie said. “Also, I really work to enjoy life. I do everything I can to be involved and learn more so that I can take advantage of all the opportunities that are presented to me, I feel so blessed to have all of these. It is remarkable that I am truly able to do so many wonderful things in my life, so I work to repay that by giving opportunities to others.”

UP, UP AND AWAY — Jeanne Mallin recently celebrated her 86th birthday. She’s been an active and beloved member of Congregation Ohev Sholom for more than 35 years according to Rabbi Scott White, and she has many friends among the members. One of those, Bob Magoon, wanted to do something special to help her celebrate this birthday. He said Mallin had told him she always wanted to take a hot air balloon ride so she could feel the wind in her face. So he arranged to take her on her dream ride on June 15. As they sailed the big blue sky they dropped manna, or in this case matzah, from heaven. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both of them!

SINGING FOR CHARITY — The Country Chicks, made up of five Glaser sisters and a neighbor friend, have entered the Town Center Plaza SING 2011 Contest. The winning group will take off with a Grand Prize Package of $20,000 for their favorite charity, $5,000 in Developers Diversified Realty MasterCard Gift Cards and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record a song with Emmy-award-winning singer/songwriter Kevin Briody. Mom Lori Glaser said the girls immediately wanted to enter the contest in the hopes of winning the Abby’s Run for the Heart — an event initiated in 2003 to raise money for pediatric heart diseases. The Glaser’s oldest daughter, Abby, died in 2001 from a disease called viral myocarditis, a virus that quickly infected her body and attacked her heart causing her sudden death. To date, fundraising efforts have raised more than $600,000. While the group may sing a little out of tune, they are garnering lots of votes. Voting continues through July 15 and you can vote for them at www.towncenterplaza.2011sing.com. You’ll have to register and look for The Country Chicks and hit play. 

Kelly Manning, owner of the new suburban hot spot Tavern in the Village, is a local in nearly every meaningful sense of the word. (Located at 3901 Prairie Lane, Prairie Village, KS 66208, (913) 529-2229) He grew up within a couple miles of the Prairie Village restaurant he opened several months ago, attended Pembroke Hill High School, and garnered a feel for the restaurant business under the wings of the Kansas City-rooted PB & J folks. Having worked his way up the ladder of the Morton’s Steakhouse chain for 14 years, he came home to demonstrate the fruits of his years of restaurant labor to his old neighborhood. There is something gratifying to Midwesterners — Kansas Citians, particularly — when one of their own returns home to make a favorable mark on his community of origin. And Manning has done just that.

Prairie Villagers, and Kansas Citians in a broader sense, have pined for a place like Tavern in the Village for some time: a comfortable, locally owned spot where folks can eat well-prepared food made with solid ingredients at reasonable prices. Since he built it (or, at least, opened it — in the space that was once an Applebee’s), they have come. Our group of four had a 6 p.m. reservation, but heard the hostess tell another group of four that wandered in sans reservation that the wait was an hour.

The décor, menu and overall “feel” of the place are somewhat reminiscent of the Fairway Grill, a beloved spot just off Shawnee Mission Parkway that closed a number of years back. The bar area (with large screen TV’s) takes up about half of the place, and the dining room the other half. Attractive art adorns the soft, green-shaded walls. Servers are generally enthusiastic and helpful, and adequately pace meals to optimize the restaurant’s cozy, neighborhood dynamic. There is an energetic buzz about the place, though the dimmed lighting keeps the mood refined. At one table, an ostensible group of Johnson County soccer moms celebrating ladies’ night out sipped cosmopolitan drinks, conversed loudly and made grandiose hand gestures for emphasis. At another table, a Mit Romney clone wore a serious expression and appeared to talk business with and/or solicit campaign donations from another “suit.”

There is nothing extraordinarily inventive about the menu, nor are there a broad array of choices. At some point, the kitchen might do well to spread its wings just a bit. But for now, the focus is on quality ingredients and careful preparation and execution. We sampled two appetizers that epitomized this particular approach. The Fajita Steak Sliders ($9) featured excellent ancho-seared tenderloin, cooked perfectly with roasted red pepper and just a touch of creamy cheese sauce. Simple, but effective. We particularly enjoyed the Spicy Ahi “Tacos” ($11), slices of rare Ahi tuna with a wonderful grill flavor and a spicy jolt, served atop bibb lettuce cups, with a sweet and sour slaw to offset the spiciness of the tuna. Avocado and fresh jalapenos rested atop the tacos, for good measure.

We tried two of the three salads that could be ordered as accompaniments to meals ($3, $7 for full salad). The Tavern Salad was an interesting offering with an excellent house-made rosemary basil vinaigrette dressing. It included a blend of spring greens, feta cheese, sun-dried cranberries and the crunch of roasted pumpkin seeds. The Traditional Caesar Salad was a quality rendition, with a well-made, mustardy Caesar dressing and shaved parmesan. The rolls served alongside the salads were not commensurate with the quality of the salads and the other offerings — rather dry and bland, and not warmed.

Some food folks operate with a mental line-up of certain, bellwether dishes that can be sampled — for comparative purposes — from restaurant-to restaurant. One such dish, for me, is a basic, roasted chicken (on the bone) — the quality of which is wholly rooted in effective seasoning and cooking technique. Tavern’s ½ Rotisserie Chicken ($13) came with the skin crispy on the outside, and the chicken moist and flavorful on the inside. The half bird was served atop decent mashed potatoes and al dente lemon pepper green beans.

Another bellwether is a restaurant’s burger. The Tavern Burger ($9), which a friend ordered without the bacon that comes standard, was evidently ground from superior beef — denoted “our own recipe” on the menu.

Though ordered (and served) well done, the meat in the thick burger remained flavorful and juicy. The well-seasoned fries served alongside were crispy, and an excellent accompaniment to the burger. Another friend went in another sandwich direction — opting for the Portobello Melt ($9), also served with the superior fries. The sandwich included slices of the tender and meaty mushrooms, which blended beautifully with the roasted red pepper and melted brie served on top.

The Penne Pasta ($12) my wife ordered did not sound especially exciting, but was well-executed, with a nice blend of ingredients — including fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, Kalamata olives, asparagus, feta cheese and fresh lemon wheels, with a subtle, oil-based sauce. The lemon wheels looked to me like yellow summer squash, leaving me with one surprisingly sour bite of the otherwise solid dish.

After such a hearty meal, I might have been inclined to skip dessert; but we were with a friend who shuddered at the idea. As such, we tried the Tavern Brownie Tower ($7), a decadent dessert with a mélange of sweet, rich flavors: chocolate, peanut butter and caramel, with vanilla ice cream. We also loved the simple but terrific Cinnamon Sugarcoated Donuts ($5), warm, crescent-shaped pastries on a narrow, chocolate zig-zagged plate served with a creamy custard dipping sauce.

Welcome home, indeed.

Out of Four Stars
Food: ***½
Atmosphere: ***½
Service: ***½

Young people looking for a chance to meet other young Jews in a non-pressure situation should look no further than the Community Kollel of Kansas City’s Shabbat Live program. About five times each year the Kollel brings young Jewish professionals in their 20s and 30s together to do one simple thing — enjoy a Shabbat meal.

Rabbi Binyomin Davis, who coordinates the program, said Shabbat Live is one of the Kollel’s most popular programs, bringing together anywhere from 40 to 70 people at each event.

“They all come together and enjoy a large Shabbat dinner together in a relaxed and friendly environment,” Rabbi Davis explained.

The Friday night dinners are always held in a private home.

“We clear out a space, move some furniture and set up tables and chairs so we can have a traditional Shabbat dinner,” Rabbi Davis said.

“It’s a nice way for people in that age group to come and enjoy a Jewish event together,” he said.

Young adults are invited primarily through Facebook and e-mail. Those who enjoy the program also help spread the word.

“We encourage people to bring a friend, and that’s been very effective,” said Rabbi Davis, who said a date for the next Shabbat Live hasn’t been chosen yet. He expects it to be sometime in August after a venue has been determined.

An invitation from a friend is how Micah Charyn discovered the program. He and his wife were invited to the June Shabbat Live by Joy Friedman. Friedman attended her first Shabbat Live in January at the invitation of Rabbi Davis. She is now a regular, and loves those evenings.

“I like the communal feeling and camaraderie. I also like doing the traditional Kabbalat Shabbat and eating with other people my age doing it under the auspices of Judaism,” Friedman said.

Charyn was so inspired by the event he called The Chronicle to sing its praises. He particularly enjoys the fact that Jews of all denominations attend.

“It encompasses a very wide net and the entire net is made up of Jewish fabric,” said Charyn, who hails from Chattanooga, Tenn., and moved here a little more than a year ago. “It doesn’t matter if you are super Reform, unaffiliated, confused or religious … all of these identities that young Jewish professional go through until they realize who they are as a Jew. You find all these people together in this big net at a Shabbos dinner and it is so nice and rewarding.”

Charyn said it’s great to know that you don’t have to worry about bringing any food with you and what they serve is “magnificent and all kosher.”

“It’s good and it appeals to people who like to eat out in restaurants, like many of us, including my wife and me, do often,” Charyn said.

Rabbi Davis and the Kollel staff, primarily he and his wife, Gevura, do most of the cooking.

“It’s a lot of work but it saves money on a caterer. We try to be very responsible with our community dollars. We don’t mind pushing our sleeves up and going to bed very late for this project,” he said.

The challahs, which Charyn said are delicious, were provided by Jay Robinow, M.D.

“He makes about 20 to 30 challahs every week and hands them out around the Jewish community,” Rabbi Davis said.

One of the reasons the Kollel sponsors this event, Rabbi Davis, said, is because it’s one of the few young professional events in town that actually has a religious component to it.

“I think it’s important to have a Jewish experience outside of the social area,” he said. “It is unique in that way and the community is backing it because of that.”

Charyn said he enjoys this event precisely because it’s different than a lot of young professional events.

“There are two types of energies at those events,” he said. “The first is networking and if you’re single it’s a good place to meet a nice Jewish counterpart. What attracted me to Shabbat Live is it’s neither of the two. It’s just about having a nice meaningful evening with good food and be around people who just want to be Jewish, who don’t want to be alone and want to make Shabbos with us.”

“At Shabbat Live you get to eat, sing and hang out with some really fun people,” he continued.

Friedman said she keeps attending Shabbat Live events because she’s developed a lot of relationships from it.”

“I think it’s been a way for me to celebrate Shabbat with people I already care about, but it’s also a chance for me to meet new people, some of whom have become my good friends.”

Members of The New Reform Temple voted this week to hire Rabbi Alan Londy to serve as the Reform congregation’s interim rabbi beginning July 1. He takes over for Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn, whose contract was not renewed by the congregation in December and left its employ in late March.

In a letter to congregants sent in advance of Tuesday night’s vote, NRT President Michael Grossman said he is excited about the prospect of having a new spiritual leader. The interim rabbi was chosen from a field that initially included 10 candidates of which two eventually came to Kansas City for onsite interviews. He will perform typical rabbinical duties such as such as leading services, conducting life-cycle events, teaching and providing counseling while the congregation searches for a permanent spiritual leader.

Rabbi Londy, 55, attended a classical Reform congregation, becoming both a Bar Mitzvah and confirmand at Congregation Berith Sholom, while he was growing up in Troy, N.Y. After graduating from Cornell with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Near-Eastern studies, he attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and was ordained in 1983. He also holds a Doctor of Ministry in pastoral counseling from Hebrew Union College in New York City and he has taken extensive courses at the Interim Ministry Network, the only national certification institute for international interim clergy that is endorsed and recognized by the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

The first part of Rabbi Londy’s rabbinical career was spent serving Conservative congregations. He was the assistant rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Baltimore from 1983-1988; the head rabbi at Temple Israel in Orlando, Fla., from 1988-2000; and the head rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Smithtown, N.Y., from 2000-2006.

By 2006 Rabbi Londy had decided he was more comfortable with the Reform movement and thus returned to his religious roots. That’s when he became rabbi/rabbi educator at Temple Israel of the City of New York, where he served until recently. In addition to running the religious school, he has also led many religious services.

Rabbi Londy has now decided he wants to take on the new challenge of serving congregations in interim situations. He told members of the NRT search committee that his goal is to work with congregations to make them the best they can be, without disrupting or trying to change their own unique identities. He and his wife have decided they are ready to live the more nomadic life of an interim rabbi for the rest of his career before eventually retiring and moving to Israel.

Pick up any Jewish magazine or newspaper, and many mainstream publications, and you’ll see rave reviews of Deborah Lipstadt’s new book, “The Eichmann Trial.” Published in March, the book is already in its fifth printing.

Lipstadt, Dorot professor of modern Jewish and Holocaust studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., will be talking about her newest book at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at the Kansas City Public Library’s Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St. There will be a reception at 6 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. RSVP online to http://www.kclibrary.org/event/deborah-e-lipstadt-eichmann-trial or call (816) 701-3407. The author will sign books after the program. Books will be available for sale at the event.

In a telephone interview with The Chronicle, Lipstadt said she will tell the story of the capture of Adolf Eichmann by Israeli agents in Argentina in May 1960, then talk specifically about the impact of the trial on survivors.

“The point I’m going to stress and the point I stress in the book is the impact it has had on the voice of the survivor, the voice of the person who can speak in the first person singular about what happened to them. That wasn’t something people had heard at Nuremberg,” she said.

Seminal event of 20th century

The Eichmann trial changed the notion of war crimes trials, Lipstadt said. At the Nuremberg trials, held from November 1945 to October 1946, defendants were tried mainly on documents, with very few victims actually testifying. But the case against Eichmann was built mainly on testimony from survivors, which seared into memory actual faces and names of victims of the Holocaust.

For 15 years, survivors had been speaking about their experiences, “but never in this intensity and never in this public and high profile a setting,” Lipstadt explained. “There was no such a thing as survivors’ rights or victims’ rights then. And that has an impact to today.”

Although Lipstadt has written three other books, all with Holocaust themes, her interest in the Holocaust is not personal — she is not a child of survivors and had no immediate family members perish.

“I just think it’s a crucial event in Jewish history, a crucial event in world history, the seminal event certainly of the 20th century, and possibly lots of other centuries,” she said. “It was just unprecedented and something I really wanted to understand, and I felt it important that my students understand it as well.”

Lipstadt said her intent is not to continue the message, “Never again.” She sees herself simply as an educator whose role it is to educate people about what happened.

“I have no agenda in terms of what (people) should think or how they should think or what they should do, or what actions my teachings might lead them to,” she said. “My sense is, you have to know the history, you have to know what happened and understand it.”

She said she had just received a “very moving” letter from a non-Jewish man in Hong Kong, in his early 60s, who had just read the book. He said he had heard much about the Holocaust, but never really learned all the nuances of it.

“What’s important about this book is not just to learn about the trial, but to give you a sense of different aspects of the Holocaust you really didn’t know. A lot of people know the word, but they don’t know the details,” she noted. “They know, oh, yeah, that was when 6 million Jews were killed. But they’re not really quite sure about how it happened, how it proceeded, how it evolved, and I think that’s really important. Or they’re not quite sure about the response of the Jews, etc.”

Gloria P. Gershun Memorial Lecture

Deborah Lipstadt’s speaking event at the Kansas City Plaza Library is the first of, hopefully, many book and author events of the Gloria P. Gershun Memorial Lecture, made possible in part by funding from Lawrence and Donna Gould Cohen and Martha Gershun and Don Goldman, and co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Center and the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.

Gloria Gershun died in May 2010. Her daughter, Martha Gershun, said her mother was a professional librarian and a passionate booklover, with deep ties to the Jewish community. She co-founded the Kansas City Jewish Book Fair in 1994 and was active in its growth and support for many years.

The JCC wanted to do something with books to honor Gloria’s memory. So, with the help of Donna Cohen and Martha, the Gloria P. Gershun Memorial Lecture was born.

“We are planning several author events in Mom’s honor,” Martha said. “We expect more events at the library and also future events at the Jewish Community Center in the coming years.”

With just a few days advance notice, a group of about 50 people from the Kansas City area — mostly from congregations Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner and Beth Torah — traveled to Joplin, Mo., Sunday, June 12, to assist with disaster relief efforts. The trip was organized by Tuvia Brander, a student at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) at Yeshiva University who is serving in June as a rabbinic intern at Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner, and Aaron Nielsenshultz of Beth Torah.

Brander has been in Kansas City since May 31 and he knew before he came that he wanted one of his projects here to be a trip to help the area devastated by the May 21 EF-5 tornado that has killed more than 150 people.
The group from Kansas City worked in cooperation with the American Red Cross and AmeriCorps. As per Red Cross policy, only volunteers ages 18 and older were allowed in the debris fields. Those people, Brander said, sorted debris following an established system where they separated things into a variety of categories including building supplies, home appliances, metal, vegetation and oil.

“The goal was to separate and bring the items within 10 feet of the curb so the collection trucks could come along and collect it,” Brander explained.

He noted that in the destroyed neighborhoods, some houses were built on cement slabs with no basements.

“Literally the slab was the only thing left on some of those houses,” he said.

The younger volunteers, and some adult supervisors, spent time doing other relief jobs including unloading and sorting donations or distributing donations.

Brander said he was thrilled with the response from the local community.

“It was short notice and there were a lot of things going on in the community (including the holiday of Shavuot), but I was very impressed that a lot of people called to learn about it,” Brander said. “I’m also thrilled that we were able to work with Beth Torah and other members of the Jewish community.”

Beth Torah’s Nielsenshultz was very impressed by those who volunteered.

“The volunteers that came did so with no hesitation at all. They were eager to help and very glad to be part of the trip. Once they got to Joplin, the volunteers were left speechless by the scope of the devastation. The volunteers were also delighted by the energy and organization of AmeriCorps and the Red Cross,” Nielsenshultz said.

Another delegation is going to Joplin Sunday, June 19, to deliver supplies collected in a drive organized by Mara Strom, blogger for Kosher on a Budget, as part of the Yesh Tikvah collection project. For more information you can reach Strom at .

“She’s collected tons and tons of stuff to take down there,” Brander said. “The bins at the shul here (BIAV) are constantly being filled.”

“The volunteers that came did so with no hesitation at all. They were eager to help and very glad to be part of the trip. Once they got to Joplin, the volunteers were left speechless by the scope of the devastation. The volunteers were also delighted by the energy and organization of AmeriCorps and the Red Cross,” Nielsenshultz said.

Another delegation is going to Joplin Sunday, June 19, to deliver supplies collected in a drive organized by Mara Strom, blogger for Kosher on a Budget, as part of the Yesh Tikvah collection project. For more information you can reach Strom at .

“She’s collected tons and tons of stuff to take down there,” Brander said. “The bins at the shul here (BIAV) are constantly being filled.”

Fundraising update

Since the Kansas and Missouri Tornado Relief Fund was established at the end of May following the devastating tornados in Joplin, Mo., and Reading, Kan.,  the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City has raised more than $101,000 for victims in both states.

For as long as we can remember, the Chronicle has had a publication date of Friday. That’s about to change.

Beginning July 14, The Chronicle will be delivered on Thursdays.

This is an idea we at The Chronicle have bounced around more than once. We’ve decided to do this now in an effort to better serve our subscribers. We are frustrated that while every single paper is mailed at the same time and place each week, some of our subscribers don’t receive it in a timely manner. We also know the majority of our subscribers want to know what’s happening in the community before Shabbat begins every Friday.
So, we hope by moving up the delivery day to Thursdays, all of our local subscribers will receive their copies of The Chronicle no later than Friday. Everything inside the paper will stay the same. The only change is the day it should appear in your mailbox.

In order to do this, we need to change some of our procedures. Please note that our deadlines will change. Beginning immediately, our news deadlines will be noon every Thursday. That means everything you want to submit to The Chronicle — articles about community events, photos for our snapshot page, celebrations, etc… — will need to be in our hands by Thursday, a week before the publication date. We will produce our paper on Tuesdays and mail in on Wednesdays so you can receive it on Thursdays.

As always we are here to answer your questions. Don’t hesitate to call us at (913) 951-8425 or e-mail us at , if you have any questions.

THE FIRST OF MANY HONORS — KI’s Senior Rabbi Herbert Mandl was recently elected to serve a third consecutive term as president of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City. What’s interesting about this is that until now the Rabbinical Association limited its officers, who serve one-year terms, to no more than two consecutive years in the same office without taking a break. The local rabbis amended its constitution recently so that Rabbi Mandl, who is retiring in 2012 after 35 years at KI, will continue to serve at the helm of the Rabbinical Association through his final year as a full-time pulpit rabbi. Rabbi Mandl said he was overwhelmed by the gesture his colleagues made toward him.

MORE ARMY FOLKS — Efi Kamara let us know that there are at least two other young people from Kansas City who are currently serving in the Israeli army — Sam Kahn and his daughter Gili Kamara. It looks like there may be at least one more going to Israel to serve by the end of the summer. Stay tuned.

MOVING ON — Rabbi Larry Karol, 1970 Temple B’nai Jehudah confirmand and the rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka from 1984-2006, will become the rabbi of Temple Beth El in Las Cruces, N.M., July 1. The rabbi  has lived in Dover, N.H., since 2006 as the rabbi of Temple Israel Dover. While in Dover, Ronda Karol directed the Early Learning Center at Temple Israel Portsmouth, the Conservative congregation, and taught religious school at both congregations. Rabbi Karol, who just celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination, served the New Hampshire community in a variety of volunteer positions the past five years  and received the Spiritual Care Award from Dover’s Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in 2010.
Coincidentally, Rabbi Gerald Kane, a former educator at B’nai Jehudah,  is the rabbi emeritus at the Las Cruces congregation.  He and his wife, Cyrille, still live there.

CHANGE THE WORLD WITH A CLICK OF YOUR MOUSE — During its recent Boogie to Broadway fundraiser, Jewish Family Service unveiled its new agency video. Give it a watch, share it on your Facebook page and e-mail the link to your friends. It’s less than 1-minute long and Don Goldman, JFS’ executive director, said he really wants people to see it because it’s powerful and touching. You’ll find it at the JFS website, www.jfskc.org.

JEWISH KC REUNION IN CHICAGO — Imagine Jewish KC will host a Happy Hour Reunion in Chicago, Tuesday, June 21, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for young professionals ages 21-40 who are formerly from Kansas City or who are interested in learning more about the metro area. The event will take place at Fulton’s on the River’s ~ Bridge Bar — 315 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60610. There is no charge to attend; however, a $10 donation will be appreciated. RSVP’s are required. If you know of someone that should be invited, send his/her e-mail address and phone number to Beth Jacobson at or leave a message at (913) 981-8896. Imagine Jewish KC is a joint initiative between Jewish Vocational Services and The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, which identifies and/or recruits young individuals (ages 21-40) and their families who are interested in returning to or remaining in Kansas City.

WHERE IS SHALOM TV? — A few weeks ago, Gloria Yakre of Overland Park called The Chronicle office to say she misses Shalom TV since switching from Time Warner Cable to SureWest. She said she loves the informative, entertaining Jewish programming offered by that station. She wondered if anyone knows why SureWest doesn’t carry it. We told her AT&T U-Verse doesn’t carry it, either. So The Chronicle did a little investigating.
AT&T U-Verse is interested, but the technologies don’t match and the company can’t add the network without incurring significant, additional costs.
We still don’t know why SureWest doesn’t carry the network.

So, for all you SureWest customers who would like to check out Shalom TV, maybe a call to SureWest’s office would help! You can also send e-mail to Shalom TV at or visit their website at http://shalomtv.com/index.htm.

Several young men and women from the Kansas City Jewish community serve in the Israel Defense Forces. They are considered Lone soldiers, who are soldiers who have no family in Israel. Here are four of their stories.

Becoming a paratrooper

Sam Mendel is a very excited young man. The 21-year-old son of Doris and William Mendel and member of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, was recently trained as a member of the special forces paratroopers unit of the Israel Defense Forces.

Sam graduated from Blue Valley North High School in 2008 and then began his college career at the University of Kansas. He visited Israel for the first time for his brother’s Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall that same year. He also went on a Birthright Israel trip during the 2009 winter break with his good friend Ethan Bennett. The following year, still having special feelings about Israel, he returned with another good friend, Shaun Roecker, to backpack for two weeks.

During the second semester of his sophomore year at KU he started asking himself, “What am I doing? I don’t know what I want to do with my life. What’s the point of being in school?”

He talked his feelings over with his grandmother, Magda Haber. He says he feels very close to both his parents and his grandparents and during his talk with Haber, she asked him if he’d ever thought of making aliyah.

“I’d kind of thought about it, but it meant leaving everything behind,” Mendel says.

But what Haber said hit a chord with Mendel and he started looking on the Internet for army programs. He found Machal, an army volunteer program.

By October of last year, Mendel had bought a ticket and was on his way to Israel. He got accepted to Machal and was assigned the December draft. At the time he arrived, he said the only Hebrew he knew was what he had learned in Sunday school.

“I went to Mikve Alon, a special base for immigrant soldiers, where you do basic training for a month and a half and then start ulpan (Hebrew language class), pretty much all day. It’s like going to a military school and it’s really hard. In your free time, you’re spending it with other immigrants.”

In March of this year, Mendel completed is course work at Mikve Alon and applied for, and was accepted, into the special forces for paratroopers.

“The tryout lasted several days. It was very intense, very physical and all in Hebrew,” he said.

“Out of the 400 or 500 who tried out for this special forces,” he continued, “I was one of four foreigners that I know from Mikve Alon who made it.”

Now that Mendel is officially a member of the IDF, he is beginning the formal process of making aliyah. He will remain in the IDF until he completes his three-year commitment.

When Mendel has free time, he often spends it at Kibbutz Hamapil with an Israeli friend he met at Camp Sabra in the Ozarks. All total he was a camper for five years and a counselor for another three.

“They’re really great to me!” said Mendel of his friend’s family and the kibbutz residents, who he said have adopted him.

The kibbutz has an excellent program for lone soldiers.

“They gave me a room with a bed and sheets, a TV, microwave and a desk and food,” he says. While he is in the IDF, this will be his home.

After the army, Mendel thinks he’ll do what other Israelis do after their army service is complete — travel.

“I really like it here but I don’t know. ... Life just goes. I’m just kind of living one day at a time.”

Making a real contribution

Jason Barnett, the 22-year-old son of B’nai Jehudah members Lori and Paul Barnett, came to Israel for the first time in 2006, during his freshman year of college, to participate in a Reform Judaism program at the University of Haifa.

“I fell in love with the people and culture and kind of found a Jewish identity that was lacking (in my life),” Barnett said.

Two years later he returned to do a summer internship at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Herzlia. There he said he got a picture of Israel’s defense and the way that system works and decided he wanted to return. After graduating the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Judaic studies a year ago, he realized, “I wanted to come to Israel and serve in the army.”

So Barnett returned to Israel last August, and he joined the army as a paratrooper in November.

In his free time, Barnett lives on the kibbutz Beit HaEmek, which is located near Nahariya, as part of Garin Tsabar, a group of 20 who had met in the States before making aliyah and who joined the army together.
Unlike traditional garinim (groups) who remain together to form a new kibbutz after army, these members are more of a support group for aliyah and army.

Barnett has two more years to serve and is undecided what he will do after the army.

“It’s not an easy experience,” said Barnett, “but if you want to be connected to what I consider real living Judaism in Israel, there’s no better way to give back and feel you’re part of that Judaism than to come and give a real contribution by serving in the army.”

Fulfilling her objective

By the time Katja Edelman, daughter of Alan and Debbie-Sosland Edelman, decided to join the Israeli army, she had been to Israel six times on short trips and spent a year here. (Laughing, she counts “three times with my family, on the USY pilgrimage, for my brother’s Bar Mitzvah and on March of the Living!”)

The Congregation Beth Shalom member and 2007 graduate of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy spent her gap year on the USY-affiliated Nativ leadership program, which involved a semester at the Hebrew University and a semester volunteering near Kibbutz Ein Tsurim in the Negev.

After what she called “a great first year at the University of Michigan,” Edelman spent the summer of 2009 on an internship in Israel.

“That gave me free time to be in the country and travel. I realized I had more to contribute and wanted to be in Israel. Joining the army was a significant part of the process.”

So she began making arrangements to return to Israel before she even went back to the United States after the conclusion of her internship.

Edelman returned to Israel in September 2009 and went into the army in November. Originally she passed the interviews and tryouts to be accepted into basic combat. Then, along with more than 70 other women, she competed for a spot in Oketz, the independent canine special forces unit. She was one of 15 to be accepted from that group.

After six months advanced training, Edelman was partnered with Domino, a dog that is part German shepherd and part Belgian shepherd.

With already a year and a half of army service behind her, Edelman has about another 17 months still to serve.

“I can’t tell what I’ll do,” she says. “I’m not thinking too much about exactly what I’m going to do after the army; I try more to focus on how to maximize the time and how I contribute to the service.”

Edelman says she has a lot of friends making decisions about what to do after the army and for her, “it’s a really scary thing to think about.”

Edelman said the IDF is very concerned about lone soldiers such as herself. She has a room with a bath on Kibbutz Givat Brenner, equipped with a microwave and a refrigerator and a washing machine. A family has “adopted” her there, giving her a place to go for the holidays.

Reflecting on her past year and a half, she said, “When I had the initial desire to do this, a lot of people thought I was crazy and they thought it wouldn’t fulfill the ideas I was seeking to fulfill, but I decided go to for it.”

She says it would have been easy to give up on her idea and return to the University of Michigan, following the normal path her peers are taking.

“I have no regrets. I’m fulfilling my objective — contributing to this country.”

An opportunity to connect

Most young people who get turned on to Israel and decide to join the Israel Defense Forces are in their early 20s. For 28-year-old Brian Gersh, the feelings came a bit later.

Gersh, the son of Congregation Beth Shalom members Susan and Myron Gersh, graduated from Blue Valley Northwest High School, moved to Florida and received a Bachelor of Science degree as a sound engineer from Full Sail University, an art, music and film school in Winter Park, Fla. After a few years working as a sound engineer for resort companies and for Disney Cruise lines, he moved to California. In 2006, he participated in a Birthright trip to Israel.

In 2008, he volunteered for the MASA program in Israel, working at non-governmental agencies in south Tel Aviv.

“I was working with the refugee population from East African countries and felt more of a connection than when I was touring around. I had this odd feeling of being at home and at peace.”
Gersh said he had been thinking about aliyah and MASA was “like a test run.”

So in July 2009 he made aliyah and in November, he went into the army.

“I wanted to go into combat and getting in was not difficult. In the beginning it was a little difficult because my language was not up to par when I joined, and military language was different. It was also different serving with 18-year-old Israelis. Now everything has leveled out. I’m in an infantry battalion in Nachal and finishing this summer.” Because of his age, Gersh said, his service in the army is shorter than average.

When he is not on base, he lives in an apartment in Tel Aviv. In May he moved to Jerusalem because he is applying to schools to earn a master’s degree in diplomacy. Gersh’s long-range goal is to work in the Israeli government in the foreign ministry or at an Israeli embassy.

Was joining the army at age 26 the right move?

“It was a great decision! American immigrants that do not do the army are missing a great portion of Israeli culture. It’s a great way to integrate.”

About the reporter

Everything I know about the Israeli army I learned from my daughter, Elissa. When she returned to the United States from the Young Judaea year course Israel and, at age 19, decided to make aliyah, she was determined to go into the army and I was supportive. For two years she was a lone soldier with no family in Israel and a commander of new recruits. I kept a scrapbook of her e-mails and photos and was very proud of her.