Edna Levy is a bundle of energy. In the classroom she curls up on a chair, feet tucked underneath, as she asks the women in her recent “Sheroes of the Bible” class to look at the text. “What’s the Hebrew used for the basket carrying Moses?” she asks. A student finds the word ‘teva’ and recalls it was used in the portion about Noah. It’s not just “a basket” Levy agrees, but something sturdier. Maybe there’s a parallel between Noah’s “saving humanity” and Moses’ potential “saving of the Jewish people.”

“Was it luck or chance?” Levy asks next, as she unwinds her legs and sits astride the arm of her chair. One responds, “There’s serious calculation here.”

Levy’s style has some serious calculation as well; as a Jewish educator her goal is to make her students see beyond the “old Hebrew school version” that most adults have to overcome. “I have found that there is some odd coincidence between what I sign up to teach, and what my own personal Jewish soul-journey is searching for,” Levy admits. “So I have always ended up learning as much or more than I am teaching, or being more influenced than I expected.” Yet she didn’t start out to become a teacher.

Growing up in a household as the oldest daughter of Sephardi parents who emigrated from Iraq to Canada to the United States, Levy’s formative years included teenage rebellion — but made her appreciate her heritage and want to learn more. “When I was a kid, those who didn’t have that Ashkenazi background might have said ‘I don’t have the right story’,” Levy explains. “So I sometimes feel left out whenever I hear Yiddish — as my grandparents spoke Arabic. Yet overall I do feel included in Yiddishkeit.”

Levy’s parents, Claudette and Nouri Levy, live here now, mostly to be near their daughter and son-in-law, Jacob Schreiber (executive director of the Jewish Community Center) and their three children: Gavri, 16, Maya, 12, and Simi, 9. It’s the first time since those teen years in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, that she’s lived in the same community with them.

“My mother, younger brother and sister became more observant when I was in high school,” Levy recalls. She rebelled, but instead of their religiosity driving her away from Judaism, it “sparked my Zionism and learning.” She looked for meaning in Judaism, practicing what years later she would learn was Rabbi Brad Hirschfield’s philosophy: “You don’t have to be wrong for me to be right.”

She felt a strong connection to the land of Israel, which led her to a long visit at age 19, where she lived with her Iraqi cousins, learned Hebrew and worked. She returned to Israel after graduating from Queen’s University in Canada. And that’s where she met Jacob Schreiber, a young New Yorker who had just made aliyah.

“It was a whirlwind romance,” she says with a grin. Five months later, Levy left for graduate school at the University of California at Irvine and for Jacob, it was “lose her or follow.” Luckily he found a job there while Levy completed the course work toward her doctorate in political science. Israel beckoned again, and the couple returned, now as a married couple, when the Anti-Defamation League hired Schreiber in its Jerusalem office.

That allowed Levy to finish her dissertation about gender and militarism in Israel. “My thesis came from frustration with women’s status in Israel,” Levy says. “It pits the myth of equality against what it means to be an Israeli, through service in the army.”

The couple spent four years in Israel before Jacob accepted a position in Rochester, N.Y., as assistant director of the JCC. That started Levy on a path as a Jewish educator. A local temple had an opening for a part time director of Jewish education. “I had a Ph.D.,” Levy recalls, “and was already an educator, but I didn’t have the experience in Jewish content.” That job allowed her to develop those skills.

Her Rochester stint gave Levy the credentials she needed when the couple moved to Atlanta. She taught Melton courses, and staffed summers at local Jewish camps. The last two years there, Levy became director of the Lisa Brill Institute for Lifelong Jewish Learning at the JCC.

And since moving here in the summer of 2009, she’s enjoying – and expanding – her role as a Jewish “coach.” Levy describes her role as “Sort of a ready-to-tailor-make-hands-on-Jewish-educational-experiences for individuals and families. She adds, “The title somehow conveys that I can teach Jewish-ness — beyond the classroom and beyond the right-and-wrong-how-to’s.”

Levy is coordinating “Ayeka” — a series of spiritual, or personal growth, workshops. “Ayeka is less about Jewish education and more about Jewish transformation. It is a way of increasing awareness, gratitude, presence in the everyday, through Jewish texts,” she adds. Ayeka’s founder, Rabbi Aryeh Ben-David, is coming to KC as a Scholar-in-Residence in May.

And she is facilitating Foundations — Jewish Values for Parents. “It’s a Melton-created class,” she explains, with “lots of discussion and text study for parents of all backgrounds and perspectives.” She’s even taught a Skype-version with a parent group in Wichita.

Levy describes Ayeka, as “a heart-centered way of learning Jewish texts and ideas.” She says she has found herself “more open to, wrestling with, thinking about the questions and issues.” And so perhaps that’s why this energetic Jewish teacher adds, “this may be one reason why I enjoy teaching and find it fulfilling — I love grappling with texts or ideas along with other learners — it’s my way of making meaning for myself.”

If Adam Sitzman was to define his teenage years, it would take only four letters: BBYO. “I define myself in the Jewish community through BBYO,” Adam said. It is through BBYO that he has met great friends and learned leadership skills. And it is through BBYO that Adam was nominated to be this month’s Salute to Youth honoree.

The son of Wendy and Jeffrey Sitzmann, Adam was nominated by Debi Tozer, BBYO program director. “Adam is fantastic,” Tozer said, “because he can see the big picture. He is very strategic in how he plans and the programs he plans with other people.”

He likes BBYO because it is “completely teen led,” he said. “It allows us to contribute to something larger than ourselves and gives teens the opportunity to grow as leaders. Each chapter is as good as the teens running it, which gives us a real sense of ownership and accomplishment.”

Adam’s proudest accomplishment in BBYO, where he serves as AZA Council president, is the revival of Teen Connection, BBYO’s program for Jewish middle school students.

“In the past this has been very stagnant,” he said.  “Now we have a committee to plan events and a list of students who are engaged in the program.”
“Adam makes plans to work to create a strong Jewish teen community in Kansas City,” Tozer said.

Due to his dedication to BBYO, Adam was awarded the Shield of David award. Recognized on the international level of BBYO, the Shield of David award is based on a teen’s involvement in the organization. Adam easily met this requirement.

He plans to stay active in the Jewish community throughout his life. In fact one day he would like to be a BBYO advisor. And his advice to other teens reflects his commitment. “Definitely get involved in BBYO,” he said, “because you can do amazing things that you could not do otherwise, and learn and grow to be a leader.”
But his commitment to his Jewish connections does not stop at BBYO. Adam is a member of JSU/NCSY and USY. His family belongs to Congregation Beth Shalom.

“Adam is an amazing young man,” said Stefanie Williams, director of Informal Education and Youth Activites at Beth Shalom, “when you get him talking about something he loves, he just lights up and is filled with an enthusiasm that you are instantly caught up in! Adam is the kind of person you want to be around — he always puts you in a good mood and gives off a positive energy! “

Two years ago he spent a month in Israel through TJJ, the Jerusalem Journey sponsored by NCSY. It was a great experience for him.

“Different groups of teens from across the country came together,” he said. “We formed great bonds from the beginning.” There were 42 students on his bus, of whom he now considers friends. “No disrespect to BBYO,” he added, “but definitely others should go on this trip.” While he was on the trip to Israel, he got to enjoy his favorite Jewish food, falafel. “It is healthy,” he said, “but at the same time great tasting and fast.”

Adam, a senior at Blue Valley West High School, is the president of the Jewish Student Union at the school. His other school activities include Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), where he has placed in competitions; National Honor Society; Spanish National Honor Society; Jagged Edge TV, reporter for his school show. He has earned the Presidential Community Service Award for three years and is an AP Scholar.

Another aspect in of Adam’s life is his enjoyment in other activities. Even though his favorite sports are snowboarding and skateboarding, he still participated for three years on the Kansas City basketball team for the Maccabi games which were held in Baltimore, San Diego and San Antonio.

Adam is still undecided where he will go to college next year. But he does know that wherever he goes he will join Hillel to continue his involvement in Jewish activities.
“I am doing my best to preserve the Jewish culture,” he said, “and pass it on to younger generations.”

Asher’s is the face that immediately popped into my mind when I heard a school bus from Sha’ar HaNegev High School was hit by an anti-tank missile last Thursday (April 7), critically wounding Daniel Viflic, a 16-year-old student.  (Editor’s note: At press time, Daniel Viflic’s condition had worsened. He went into a coma and has been unresponsive, in spite of exhaustive medical care.)

I visited the high school, located about 3 miles from the Gaza strip, a little more than two weeks ago as part of a Jewish Federation mission for marketing directors. Admittedly, I was nervous about visiting Sha’ar HaNegev and neighboring Sderot. Especially since rockets had fired on the very same areas just the week before our arrival.

That said, even with its campus dotted with bomb shelters, and the knowledge that blue painted walls marked the fortified rooms created to withstand the rockets that almost daily bombarded the area two years ago, I soon forgot about anything but the people at Sha’ar HaNegev High School. There was Aharele Rothstein, the school principal, whose main focus is to teach the students not to hate — in spite of the fact that they spend much of their time on the receiving end of rocket fire. And, of course, Asher and his group of ninth-grade friends, who toured us around their campus.

As my small group’s tour guide, Asher told us about the high school and what made it so great. He also talked about the things he likes to do in his spare time: hang out with friends, play sports, and play his guitar — mostly rock music.

Like the rest of his classmates, Asher doesn’t have a political agenda. He wants the same things most other teens want: a chance to grow up and live a good life, and a chance to make his own mark on the world.

In fact, Asher reminds me of my 14-year-old nephew, Jared: Except Jared doesn’t have to worry about staying close to a bomb shelter when he’s hanging out with his friends. Nor does Jared have to use a laptop to do coursework, sequestered in a bomb shelter as rockets rain down on his school. (The laptops are provided by Jewish Federation’s partner agency, World ORT, and are made possible through donations to the Jewish Federation’s annual campaign.) The bomb shelters and armed guards that are a part of Asher’s daily school life are not something my nephew will ever experience.

Jewish Federation pride

I’ve spent the last three years on staff at the Jewish Federation describing what the organization does. I’ve told stories about how we are helping our fellow Jews in Kansas City recover from economic despair during the U.S. economic crisis. I’ve explained how we are providing elderly Jews in the Former Soviet Union with basic necessities such as food, shelter and medication.

And now, I’m proud to talk about another partner agency, Jewish Agency for Israel and its Fund for Victims of Terror: A fund supported by Jewish Federation dollars. This fund helps victims like Daniel Viflic during their physical recovery. It helps people like the bus driver, found hysterical at the scene of the attack; recover from the psychological trauma of seeing Daniel lying, unconscious, with severe head injuries. It helps the families learn how to cope with the damage inflicted on their loved ones.

I feel helpless as I worry about these Israeli children, thousands of miles away. But at least I proudly carry with me the knowledge that, in my small way, I am making a difference in their lives through my work at — and my annual gift to — the Jewish Federation.

Jane Blumenthal Martin is the director of strategic marketing for the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. She and her husband, Joseph, have two children.

DELIGHTFUL EVENING — It looked like everyone, including co-chairs David Porter and Patricia Werthan Uhlmann, were having a wonderful time Sunday night as the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy celebrated its 45th anniversary. Two members of the original graduating class were in attendance — Debbie Sosland-Edelman and Harriet Puritz Almaleh. We were all treated to a video featuring some of the founders where we heard the hit line of the evening, delivered by Blanche Sosland. She reported that when they met with Hyman Brand for the very first time seeking his support, he called the group a bunch of “young punks.” Brand was so impressed with those “young punks” that in two weeks he raised enough money for the school to operate its first year.

ISRAEL ADVOCACY — The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City has launched a new Facebook page that focuses solely on Israeli advocacy. Israeli emissary Lilach Nissim said friends of the page will be able to learn more about events that are happening, ask questions and get answers, and write their opinions freely. The page will also have facts about Israel and list a variety of sources for additional information. The page is called Advocacy KC Israel.

KOSHER FOR PASSOVER — I got a call earlier this week from a reader informing me that a recipe for Chocolate Chiffon Cake in the April 8 edition provided by JTA News & Features is not kosher for Passover because its ingredients include baking powder. So I did a quick online search and found out that while it would seem that baking powder would not be kosher for Passover, there are actually four brands certified with the OU-P available this year. Another article notes that there are many written debates as to whether or not Passover baking powder and baking soda should be permitted. If you search online you’ll find a variety of answers. So my best (uneducated) advice regarding the use of kosher for Passover baking powder is to ask your rabbi!

SPECIAL THANKS — Marcus Cain, the curator of the Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art Epsten Gallery|Museum Without Walls went out of his way to help us find an image for this week, our annual Passover edition. We thank Marcus for all the extra effort he put forth on our behalf!

KOLLEL CAKES — I wish I would have known that the Community Kollel of Kansas City was selling kosher for Passover flourless chocolate cakes before I found out that pre-orders completely sold out in two days! They are being baked by Marsha Pener Johnston. Stay tuned as they will be selling custom made kosher cakes for Shavuot as another fundraiser. In the meantime if you want more information about this fundraiser or you wish to reserve a Shavuot cake, you can contact Rabbi Binyomin Davis at .

HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION PLANNED — The annual State of Kansas Holocaust Commemoration Service will be at 1 p.m. Monday, May 2, at the Kansas State Historical Museum in Topeka. This year’s theme is “The Holocaust: Justice and Accountability,” and the keynote speaker will be Hildegard Trout, a Holocaust survivor. Musical performances will be provided by the Washburn University Choir and cellist Steven Elish. They will perform excerpts from the “Holocaust Cantata.” The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Kansas City Holocaust Commission. Seating is limited to the first 200 and the service lasts approximately 75 minutes. For more information, call (785) 272-6040.

JAPAN AID — Japan continues to be shaken by earthquakes and aftershocks and Jewish organizations continue to help the Japanese people. IsraAID/FIRST has now sent three medical teams to work there, the most recent one delivering urgently needed medicines to the Fuji Toranomon Hospital. IsraAID is a coordinating body of Israeli and Jewish organizations and other interested parties based in Israel who are active in development and relief work and are concerned about global issues.

JDC officials estimates they will raise $2 million which will provide emergency relief in the disaster stricken region. JDC has provided food, water, hygiene products, blankets, tents, emergency school supplies, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. It is also working in conjunction with IRC, UNICEF, Afya, Chabad and the IDF, supporting the field hospital in Minamisanriku through the purchase of medical equipment and life-saving drugs.

Plans are currently underway to launch a new reform congregation in Kansas City. Its new spiritual leader will be Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn, who just severed his relationship with the New Reform Temple. (For more information, see below.) Known by the name Temple Israel for now, it held services for the first time Friday, April 1, at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church in Overland Park. Rabbi Cukierkorn said services would be held there again tonight, Friday, April 8, at 6 p.m. at 12251 Antioch Road in Overland Park, and for the foreseeable future. For more information, contact Rabbi Cukierkorn at (913) 940-1011.

The 43-year-old native of Brazil came to Kansas City 10 years ago to serve as the rabbi for The New Reform Temple. Following several months of negotiations, that relationship ended last week.

“We reached a mutually agreeable deal. Sadly, it wasn’t the outcome that we wanted, but we are very pleased that we will be able to stay in town,” Rabbi Cukierkorn said this week.
Another key component of the agreement, which remains confidential, allows the Reform rabbi to serve another synagogue here in the city.

“This has been our home for 10 years. Our kids have grown up here, and one of our daughters was born here. I’m glad a group has asked us to stick around,” he said. He and his wife, Denisse, and their two daughters live in Overland Park.

Forming new ties

Congregants have helped shaped new synagogues here in Kansas City several times in recent history. Congregation Beth Torah was established in April 1988 following a leadership struggle at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. Another rabbinic shuffle in the community helped create Or Hadash, a Reconstructionist congregation formed in June 2003 (which folded in the spring of 2010), and Kol Ami, which was established in June 2003.

Rabbi Cukierkorn, who serves as vice-president of the Society for Classical Reform Judaism and is a former president of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City, said about 50 people attended services last week with just one day’s notice. Approximately 50 families to date have expressed interest in helping form the new congregation.

“We want to form a congregation that is truly inclusive and welcoming and diverse. We will welcome people who have different levels of commitment to Judaism,” he said.

He stressed that absolutely nothing about a new congregation has been finalized yet, including the congregation’s name. In the first draft of the congregation’s proposal, it states, “As a congregation-oriented organization, the vision, mission, governance, services and even the name of our temple or synagogue will be determined through discussion and consensus.”

Rabbi Cukierkorn expects that the congregation will look for a more permanent site to meet in the future. Many of the families who attended the first service have been affiliated with The New Reform Temple, which is located at 7100 Main in Kansas City, Mo., but Rabbi Cukierkorn stated that he is not “aiming to take anyone from The New Reform Temple.”

“Some may leave and follow me, some may leave and go elsewhere and some may stay. My aim is not to hurt the congregation,” Rabbi Cukierkorn said.

The rabbi was able to organize the first service last week on such a short notice with a little help from his friends. A colleague, The Rev. Gar Demo at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal, offered the meeting space. Rabbi Cukierkorn already owned a Torah, and he learned that Debby Simon still had an ark from her days as an Or Hadash board member.

“I asked her if she would lend it to me, rent it to me or sell it to me,” Rabbi Cukierkorn said. “She said she ran into many obstacles when she was trying to organize Or Hadash and that only one rabbi offered support: me! So, she said she would be honored to give it to us as a gift.”

Rabbi Cukierkorn has many ideas he hopes to incorporate, with input from other organizers, in a new congregation. For instance, instead of running a traditional, standardized religious school, he proposes congregants be given the opportunity to develop their own IJPs, or Individual Jewish Plans to promote life-long Jewish learning.

“In schools children get IEPs (Individual Education Plans). We will work together to set education goals and focus on experiential learning and community building,” he said. “As a rabbi I am certainly capable of running a religious school, but I have come to believe that religious school alone can be detrimental to a Jewish education. With an IJP, we will work together to set educational goals, where congregants can learn on their own, with the rabbi or as part of study groups, according to their schedules. Our shul will focus on experiential learning and community building,” he said.

His vision calls for Sundays to be mostly family days. Instead of gathering together every Sunday morning at religious school, he hopes families will celebrate Shabbat at home and together at services every Friday evening. Then, several times a year, he proposes a day-long activity for congregants, allowing both learning and social components.

The rabbi, who has published several books, is also known for his work with interfaith families and his travels to help people learn about Judaism in Latin America and Europe. He hopes to be able to continue working in those areas at a new congregation and make this international outreach an integral part of the new congregation identity.

“We have lots of ideas. But most importantly we want to engage the whole family and make Judaism meaningful for them.”

A Facebook page for Temple Israel has already been created. It can be viewed by searching Temple Israel in Kansas City.

NRT searching for new rabbi

The New Reform Temple and Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn officially severed their ties to each other at the end of March. In December the Reform congregation’s board of directors told the rabbi that his contract would not be renewed when it expired at the end of May 2012.

In the last few months the congregation and the rabbi began negotiations to cut their ties sooner. NRT congregants were notified via e-mail last week once the confidential agreement was reached.

In the e-mail, NRT President Tom Barnett said the congregation was working toward quickly identifying an interim rabbi “who can step in to provide continuity of key services to our membership and begin to bring our temple community closer together.” NRT has already been in contact with the Union for Reform Judaism to begin the search for an interim rabbi according to Dan Fromm, a member of NRT’s board of directors.

Fromm reports that regular congregational life continues to take place at the temple.

“Of course we are continuing to hold regular Shabbat services and religious school services,” Fromm said.

Several local rabbis have reached out to NRT to offer their help in the interim if needed, especially for lifecycle events for members.

“We really appreciate our temple community and the broader Kansas City Jewish community pulling together to offer their help,” Fromm said.

After plans for an interim rabbi are made, Barnett said the congregation will turn its attentions “to outlining what we want in our next permanent spiritual leader.”

“This is an exciting time and we are looking forward to what’s next for the temple,” Fromm added.

Want to learn how to experience your Judaism in a new light. Check out what Rabbi Sharon Brous, The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehduah’s guest scholar has to say tonight and tomorrow (April 8 and 9).

Rabbi Brous is the founder and rabbi of IKAR, a vibrant new Jewish spiritual community in Los Angeles. For the past four years she has also served on the faculty of REBOT, a network of Jewish trendsetters, thinkers and activists, and is involved in several justice-oriented initiatives with the Progressive Jewish Alliance. She will speak at erev Shabbat services tonight at 6 p.m., and Shabbat morning services tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. She will also present sessions at Shabbat dinner Friday night, Kiddush lunch on Saturday and a Havdallah reception. Reservations are required for the meal events. For more information visit www.bnaijehudah.org or call (913) 663-4050.

“We are so excited to have Rabbi Brous teach at our temple this weekend as she is one of the country’s leading voices for social justice and this is a core belief at our congregation. We hope to get a greater understanding of what we need to do to effect real change in our community,” said Adam Herman, event chair.

In a phone interview, Rabbi Brous said the weekend will focus on the themes of appreciation, agitation and transformation.

“These are spiritual steps that can be taken for communal and social change,” Rabbi Brous said.

For instance, one subtopic will be “Bringing Heaven Down to Earth: Your Material Needs are My Spiritual Needs.”

“We will discuss how social justice and communal obligation and global obligation are not liberal, 21st century innovations but are actually very deeply rooted in the Jewish theological foundation and also are very much a part of Jewish spiritual practice,” Rabbi Brous said.
Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner noted that B’nai Jehudah is really trying to make social justice a part of its spiritual practice.

“The brokenness in our world is staggering. The members of our congregational family are asking for ways to make meaning out of chaos; to find relevance between Jewish tradition and the ‘real world’ issues facing us every day. The social justice work taking place at B’nai Jehudah comes from a place of commitment to confront this brokenness and to bring tikkun, healing, to our world,” Rabbi Shuval-Weiner said.

“From the Mitzvah Garden to Mitzvah Day, from The Hunger Banquet and on-going partnerships with Olathe Food Ministry and Independence Boulevard’s Micah Ministry to the day-to-day work of chesed we are striving to respond to the Divine call for tzedek, righteousness in our community. And yet, many of us are still asking ourselves the same questions: Are we doing enough? What more can we do to effect tikkun olam, to heal the world around us?” she continued.

Rabbi Shuval-Weiner said that Rabbi Brous is a rabbi who is responding to these questions in a way that deepens our connection to Judaism.

“She also brings a message that helps us to find the relevance that we all crave. By bringing Rabbi Brous to our community, it is our hope to learn from richness of her experience and to forge the next steps in our on-going sacred engagement today and into the future,” Rabbi Shuval-Weiner said.

An estimated 1 billion people in the world go to bed hungry every night. That’s one in every seven people.

Most people can’t comprehend such a large number by just reading about it. So the Social Justice Committee of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, is hoping people will understand the issue better, and make a commitment to do their part to help solve it, on Saturday night April 16, when it presents the Hunger Banquet. Co-sponsored by B’nai Jehduah’s religious school, it’s a part of the congregation’s annual Saturday Nite Live program. It’s underwritten in memory of Shirley and Alfred Kohlman and is open to all members of the Reform congregation.

Karen “Gustie” Herman, who is chairing the event, pointed out that the Hunger Banquet is for members of the congregation and invited interfaith guests. Those interested in learning more may contact her at (913) 217-7865.

She explained that the Hunger Banquet will be an interactive dramatization of food inequalities around the world. Guest will be assigned roles that represent different income levels. What each person receives for dinner will depend on their role, so some will have a lot to eat and others won’t have enough. (For this reason young families and seniors may want to eat before attending.)

The committee has teamed with Harvesters, The Hunger Project and United Community Services of Johnson County to plan this event. The keynote speaker will be Karen Herman (who coincidentally has the same name as Hunger Banquet chairperson Karen “Gustie” Herman) who represents The Hunger Project, an international non-governmental organization that has been working since 1974 to address hunger issues across the globe. Valorie Carson, the community planning director for United Community Services of Johnson County will also speak about the many effects of hunger on homeless individuals and families here in Johnson County.

Karen “Gustie” Herman explained that the Hunger Banquet was designed by Oxfam, an international organization that works to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. This particular program teaches about the inequalities of food in the world.

Herman noted that only 15 percent of the people in the world are classified as high income, making more than $9,386 per year. Another 30 percent of people in the world have per capita incomes between $766 and 9,285 per year. Those who make less than 765 per year — living on less than $2 per day — make up 55 percent of the world’s population.

“The Hunger Banquet emphasizes that inequity because here in Johnson County, we don’t understand that reality,” Herman said.

“A lot of people think everybody is rich in Johnson County,” added Joann Kinney, a member of the Hunger Banquet committee.

In fact, according to United Community Services of Johnson County, poverty in Johnson County has more than doubled from 2000 to 2009.

“Suburban poverty has increased at a higher rate than urban poverty,” Kinney said.

An interactive experience

Kinney said that people who attend the Hunger Banquet will be given a card when they arrive which describes their role for the evening.

“The people who are playing the role of upper income people will go to a table set with a table cloth, china, crystal and flowers and they’ll be served a three-course meal,” Kinney said. “Those in the middle income will sit at a plain table and they will get a bowl of rice and beans and water. Lower income people will sit on the floor and eat rice.”

The room will be divided according to the hunger statistics. That means 15 percent will be high income, 30 percent will be middle income and 55 percent will be low income. Arrangements have been made for people with disabilities and those who have difficulties sitting on the floor to still be able to participate in the program.

Those who are middle and lower income will at times be uncomfortable, the organizers pointed out.

“It will be a wonderful visual of the inequalities of food and teach everyone, there will be a lot of children there as well as adults, what it’s really like to be hungry and not to have enough to eat,” Herman said.

Following dinner, participants will attend three 18-minute break-out sessions to learn more about hunger — hunger in the world and Israel, hunger in the United States and Johnson County as well as a craft project. Religious school teachers are designing all the craft sessions.

B’nai Jehudah’s social justice committee has several ongoing programs to help the hungry throughout the city. Before the evening concludes, Herman and Kinney said participants will have an opportunity to make a personal commitment to help stamp out hunger.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum sends traveling exhibits all over the country, but none has ever visited Wyandotte County, Kan., until now.

On April 20, the Wyandotte County Historical Museum, 631 N. 126th, Bonner Springs, Kan., will host the USHMM exhibition “Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings.”

The exhibit, which continues through June 17, provides a vivid look at the first steps the Nazis took to suppress freedom of expression, and the strong response that occurred in the United States both immediately and in the years thereafter. The exhibition focuses on how the book burnings became a potent symbol during World War II in America’s battle against Nazism, and concludes by examining their continued impact on our public discourse. There is no charge for the exhibit or the speaker series. (See below for more information.)

In conjunction with “Fighting the Fires of Hate,” the Wyandotte County Historical Museum will display “Our Jewish Past,” highlighting contributions made by the Jewish community to the county’s history. This museum exhibition will feature panels highlighting businesses, synagogues and individuals of Wyandotte County. At one time, three synagogues were located in Wyandotte County, including Ohev Sholom, the oldest synagogue still in existence in the state of Kansas.

‘Fighting the Fires of Hate’

Jessica Rockhold, the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education’s director of school programs and teacher education, said the interesting thing about “Fighting the Fires of Hate’ is that it’s not a Holocaust exhibit per se. It’s about the Nazi book burnings that happened in May of 1933.

“So it predates anything about passing laws against the Jews or killing Jews in any way. This is more about the kind of culture and the kind of society that the Germans wanted to build that eventually enabled them to do those other things,” Rockhold said. MCHE provided grants for the exhibit along with the Kansas Humanities Council, Kansas City Kansas Public Library and the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust.

Rockhold said this exhibit’s message is very universal and especially resonates for Americans because freedom of expression is one of the things “we hold so dear.”

“So it’s an exhibit about the book burnings specifically, but also the American reaction to the book burnings, and it gives an opportunity to talk about those kinds of issues and why they are important to Americans,” Rockhold continued.

“I think this exhibit offers a really different and interesting way to approach this kind of history,” she said. “Everybody should go see it.”

Trish Schurkamp, the museum’s executive director, said they are excited the museum was selected to display this very timely exhibit.

“From the planned burning of the Quran in Gainsville, Fla., to the changing of words considered derogatory in Mark Twain’s ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,’ this exhibition gives message that we should not forget,” Schurkamp said.

Schurkamp said the museum began negotiating with the USHMM about a year ago to house a traveling exhibit. The application process is strict and the USHMM has to approve the space as well as the security.

“There are very stringent codes we had to go through to get this exhibit,” she said.
One reason Wyandotte County approached the USHM for a traveling exhibit, Schurkamp said, is because she is Jewish.

“I also knew that Wyandotte County had a Jewish past and felt it was something we needed to highlight. We are a county museum so we do highlight different ethnic groups in Wyandotte County and it’s one of the groups we had failed to highlight. So we wanted to get an exhibit that would work with our exhibit,” Schurkamp said.

The two exhibits are separate but will be held in the same room. Schurkamp said visitors will first walk through “Fighting the Fires of Hate,” and then end with “Our Jewish Past.” She estimates 30 to 40 people can comfortably view the exhibits at one time. Because many large school groups have made reservations to see the exhibit, films about Kristallnacht and local survivors, provided by MCHE, will be available for groups, and individuals, to view in addition to the two exhibits.

Schurkamp is excited about the interest these exhibits has created.

“We’ve got 450 students booked to attend the exhibit, all the way from Salina (Kansas) to the greater Kansas City area. We’re just amazed at where they are coming from. And that comes from our partnership with the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. They’ve been a phenomenal partner with getting this information out,” Schurkamp said.

‘Our Jewish Past’

Schurkamp, who has been associated with the Wyandotte County museum for nine years, said she has been collecting material about the Jewish community in the county for quite some time. One of the museum’s trustees was the late Bart Cohen, who collected a lot of Jewish history, and he helped spark her interest.

It is an 11-panel exhibition that highlights different aspects within the Wyandotte County Jewish history. It starts with the first synagogue that was formed by Jewish immigrants in the 1870s.

“They settled in the packing districts of Armourdale, known as the bottoms, and they met in homes at that point,” said Jennifer Laughlin, the museum’s curator.

“The first congregation was called Gomel Chesed,” Laughlin said.

Besides the local synagogues, the exhibit will focus on successful Wyandotte County Jewish businesses found on Minnesota Avenue and Central Avenue. Lastly, prominent Jewish people — including Barnett, Morris and Joseph Cohen, the Helzberg family, the Greenberg family and Milton Feld, Asner family and the Katz family — will be featured.

Laughlin said Rabbi Marshall Miller is highlighted as well as the Asner Torah.

“The Asner family was very instrumental in the Jewish community here in Wyandotte country,” Laughlin said. “Rabbi Miller was the main Jewish religious leader in Wyandotte County, who was here from 1937 until he died in 1965.”

‘Fighting the Fires of Hate’ speaker series

Several special events will be held in conjunction with the “Fighting the Fires of Hate” exhibit. They include:

• May 1
Plant Tree in Remembrance of Yom HaShoah on the Wyandotte County Museum Grounds
1 to 1:30 p.m.
Holocaust Survivor Mike Jacobs discusses ‘Triumph over Tragedy’
2 p.m.
George Meyn Community Center located at Wyandotte County Park

• May 10
Third Reich/2010: Censorship Then and Now Presented by Ronda Hassig, NBCT, a librarian Harmony Middle School and a member of the MCHE Teaching Cadre
5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Exhibition viewing and reception
6:30 p.m. program
George Meyn Community Center located at Wyandotte County Park

• May 12
Witnesses to the Holocaust: Kristallnacht Presented by Dr. Francis Glazer Sternberg, director of university programs & adult education at the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education
5:30-6:15 p.m.
Exhibition viewing and reception
Wyandotte County Museum
6:30 p.m. program
George Meyn Community Center located at Wyandotte County Park

• May 26
The Nazi Book Burnings: The Third Reich’s Prelude to the Destruction of European Jewry Presented by Kevin Baker and Kelsey Rosborough, graduate students at University of Missouri-Kansas City
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Exhibition viewing and reception
6:30 p.m. program
Wyandotte County Museum

• June 9
Holocaust & War Victims Tracing Service
Presented by Jennifer Tarwater, director of Disaster Services, The American Red Cross
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Exhibition viewing & reception
6:30 p.m. program
George Meyn Community Center at Wyandotte County Park

• June 12
Steve Cole, member of the Second Generation Speakers Bureau, Midwest Center for Holocaust Education
2 p.m.
George Meyn Community Center located at Wyandotte County Park

For more information on the exhibition and guest speakers highlighting the exhibits at the Wyandotte County Historical Museum visit www.wycomuseum.wordpress.com.

Anytime you hear or read a news report of any kind — newspaper, radio or television, or Internet — it’s likely at least one Middle Eastern country will be mentioned. So David Makovsky knows that when he comes to Kansas City next week on Wednesday, April 13, people will want to know what the turmoil in the Middle East means for Israel. He’ll discuss that and the future of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty in a presentation titled, “After Egypt: Looking at Prospects of Mideast Peace,” at 7:30 p.m. at the White Theatre at the Jewish Community Campus. The event is free and sponsored by Jewish Community Center, Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee and Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.

Makovsky said that with all the current turmoil in the Mideast, “people are hopeful and watchful.”

“Israel wants more democracies in the Mideast but is that going to be a turbulent process? They don’t know what it will mean in the short term or the long term,” he said.

Makovsky is currently the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Project on the Middle East Peace Process. The Washington Institute is an independent, nonpartisan research institution generating analysis and recommendations that advance a balanced and realistic understanding of U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Makovsky is also an adjunct lecturer in Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He has been involved with several book projects and is the co-author with Dennis Ross of the 2009 “Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East (Viking/Penguin)”. He has authored numerous Washington Institute monographs on issues related to the Middle East Peace Process and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Makovsky is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. His commentary on the peace process and the Arab-Israeli conflict has appeared in numerous major publications in the United States. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree in Middle East studies from Harvard University.

Before joining The Washington Institute, Makovsky was an award-winning journalist covering the peace process from 1989 to 2000. His journalistic credentials include serving as former executive editor of the Jerusalem Post and as a diplomatic correspondent for Israel’s leading daily newspaper, Ha’aretz. He became the first journalist writing for an Israeli publication to visit Damascus. He has made five trips to Syria and was given permission to file reports from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for an Israeli publication. Makovsky is a former contributing editor to U.S. News and World Report; for 11 years he was the magazine’s special Jerusalem correspondent.

Two Jewish newspapers in the Midwest — were among the first to publish his articles. A native of St. Louis, Makovsky wrote about the Camp David peace treaty for the St. Louis Jewish Light and the KC Jewish Chronicle in 1978. At that time his father was the local director of the Jewish Education Bureau (what we now know as CAJE).

JCC Executive Director Jacob Schreiber was instrumental in getting Makovsky committed to appear in KC. The two worked together for the Jerusalem Times.

“I’m from the Midwest, I cover the Mideast and I still have very fond feelings for the Midwest. I hope it will be an interesting evening,” Makovsky said.

When he’s in KC, Makovsky is expected to discuss a new Washington Institute report he co-authored called “Imagining the Border: Options for Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Territorial Issue.” The report analyzes the intersection of demography and geography in the West Bank in order to demystify the territorial dimension of the conflict and facilitate peacemaking. Through detailed maps and in-depth population data, he shows how the parties can use land swaps to meet some of their most important goals, such as minimizing dislocation, ensuring security, and establishing a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank. The report also states that territory is not the only issue on the peace agenda — security, refugees, Jerusalem and recognition of Israel’s legitimacy are key — but breakthrough on this issue may open the door to progress on the others.

For more information or to RSVP for the program, contact Jeff Goldenberg, JCC director of Adult Jewish Learning, at (913) 327-4647.

Chabad Centers across the states of Kansas and Missouri are making plans  to assure that there is a seat for every Jew at the seder table this Passover.

“No Jew will go without” is the motto of this campaign announced by the regional headquarters for Chabad-Lubavitch of Kansas and Missouri. The goal of this new campaign is to assure that each and every Jewish person who wishes to join a Passover seder has a reserved seat at the seder table at absolutely no charge.

In order to achieve this goal, numerous public seders are being offered for all, with no affiliation or membership required. Each of the public seders will feature gourmet cuisine, Shmurah Matzah — the Rolls Royce of matzah — and the four traditional cups of wine for each participant. The seders will be held at the following locations:

• Chabad House Center of Kansas City at 6201 Indian Creek Drive in Overland Park

• Chabad on the Plaza at 4901 Wornall, No. 105, Kansas City, Mo.

• Chabad at the University of Kansas at 1201 West 19th St. in Lawrence, Kan.
Chabad is also sponsoring a Russian-born rabbi who, together with Rabbi Choni Wineberg, will lead a seder specifically for the elderly Russian community in Russian. As it is  difficult for these people to get out at night, the seder will be hosted at Santa Fe Towers 8 p.m. Monday, April 18.

Each seder will be led by a team of Chabad rabbis who will conduct an engaging, thought-provoking and fun seder. The seders are English-friendly and child-friendly and Hebrew-English Haggadas will be provided so that all can participate equally. The traditional texts will be interspersed with stories, Chassidic wit and wisdom.

The first seder will be held Monday, April 18, and the second Seder on Tuesday, April 19. Both will begin at 8:30 p.m.

A central website has been established for easy sign-up and seat reservation. While these seders are offered absolutely free of charge, donations are welcome. Visit www.GOTSEDER.com to reserve a seat.

Chabad Centers will also be distributing special Passover kits including hand-made Shmurah Matzah to enhance people’s individual seders.

In addition to the seders, in order to accommodate the many Jewish students at the University of Kansas, Chabad at KU will be offering a kosher-for-Passover meal plan for the entire week of Passover. Students can reserve their meals at www.HawkSeder.com.

The joy of the festival will be shared with area seniors as well. ‘Goldie’s Gift,” a project of the Yachad Kosher Food Pantry, will distribute more than 300 Passover gift bags with holiday treats to many seniors and their families.

“The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, taught that no solitary Jewish person ought to feel left out. Every Jew, regardless of their background, affiliation or even location, should have the opportunity to celebrate Passover,” said Chabad Rabbi Mendy Wineberg, program director of Chabad of Kansas & Missouri. “In keeping with our tradition of the past 40 years, our local centers will be once again working feverishly to ensure that every Jew can celebrate Passover and have all their holiday needs met. We are proud to share that with our efforts combined, the local Chabad’s will be hosting over 500 of our fellow Jews at the seder table this Passover.”

For more information on any or all of the above programs, visit www.GotSeder.com or call (913) 649-4852.