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.

Some 50 years ago, before Facebook and Twitter, there was Women’s Division.

“My mom encouraged me to get involved,” recalls Bari Freiden, who will accept the Women’s Division president’s gavel and present the keynote, “Women’s Strength: The Power to Inspire,” at a dessert reception for the Women’s Division Annual Meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at Oakwood Country Club.

The Social Network

“I grew up in Kansas City but had been away for a long time,” Freiden said. “Women’s Division was a social thing — a way to network, meet new people and get involved in something worthwhile. It still is today.”

Then, as many women do today, Freiden started out by participating in a young leadership group where she learned what the Jewish Federation does locally, nationally and internationally.
“I was working all the time, so I had to pick and choose what I did,” said Freiden. “But I always worked on the annual campaign and Super Sunday.”

Freiden also served twice as the chair of the Federation’s Lion of Judah Division, comprising women who pledge an annual gift to the Federation of $5,000 or more. In 2000, she and her husband, Dr. Floyd Freiden, traveled on a Joint Distribution Committee mission to the Federation’s sister communities in Romania and Bulgaria.

“To see and touch the people we help touched me more than I can express,” she said.

Since then, she’s been on JDC trips to Tunisia and Cuba and this September is going to Paris to meet with the Jewish community there. Her interest abroad also led her to serve on the Israel and Overseas Committee, which helps decide how gifts to the Jewish Federation are distributed to Romania, Bulgaria and Israel.

“Not everybody can go abroad,” said Freiden, “but there’s plenty of opportunity to do things here.”

And that’s the message Freiden hopes to transmit by sharing the story of how her mother, Frances Wang Gershon, inspired her and other family members to continue the legacy of Jewish philanthropy.

Sweets & Stories

Freiden plans to make intergenerational philanthropy the focus of her presidency. She’s excited about a program planned in conjunction with the Jewish Community Foundation for Oct. 30, the G3 Summit: Girls (of all ages) Guide to Giving. The G3 Summit was created to empower women — at all ages and stages of life — to make a difference in the community.

The intergenerational theme will be underscored by the Annual Meeting’s mother and daughter co-chairs, Michele Kaplan, who is Freiden’s first cousin, and Kaplan’s daughter, Beth Kaplan Liss.

“As women we have the power to be leaders in the community and really make a difference,” said Liss. “Our goal for this event is for people to leave thinking about what inspires them and how they want to be involved.”

And, of course, to enjoy the social network.

“Women like time to visit, catch up with friends and meet new people,” said Liss. “So instead of a meal and a huge slice of cake, we’re planning a bunch of really fun, delicious desserts that everyone can easily nibble on while talking to each other.”

Incoming officers are Bari Freiden, president; Lisa Bernard and Trudy Jacobson, campaign vice presidents; Debbie Trenton, communications vice president; Melanie Allmayer and Cindy Bodker, community relations vice presidents; Jessica Rudnick-Kaseff and Tamara Lawson Schuster, education vice presidents; Sara Gonsher and Kristin Schultz, leadership vice presidents; and Sarah Beren, immediate past president.

New board members include Robin Abramowitz, Diane Davidner, Milisa Flekier, Janet Gershon, Deborah Gill, Rabbi Vered Harris, Pam Kanter, Stephanie Kavanaugh, Robin Levine, Erin Margolin, Mindy Parmet, Roberta Pollack, Ellen Portnoy, Anne Scharf, Amy Shapiro, Debbie Sosland-Edelman and Lynda Youngblade.

The cost of the event is $15 and includes a Vaad-supervised dessert reception.
RSVPs may be made by April 15 at www.jewishkansascity.org; or contact Nicole Feldman at (913) 327-8111 or .

In 1966 six families dreamed of providing a Jewish day school education for their children. While many were skeptical it could survive, the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy not only survived, but grew and continues to thrive. It will celebrate its 45th anniversary at the annual Civic Service Awards Dinner on April 10 at Hyatt Regency Crown Center. Maria Devinki and the late Fred Devinki will receive the 2011 Civic Service Award for their philanthropic efforts in the community. (For more information, contact Kerry Cosner at (913) 327-8156.)

“I’m thrilled to be one of the founders and to see what the school has accomplished over the last 45 years and to know that all of our graduates are accepted into the finest colleges throughout the United States,” Carl Puritz said. “Most importantly we have achieved the mission that we set out for all of our students that we will teach them how to be knowledgeable and committed Jews and productive citizens. Our day school is now considered one of the top day schools in the United States and it’s really thrilling to know that’s been accomplished.”

Another founder, Blanche Sosland, added, “The quality of the education that our kids got was fantastic from the very beginning.” Not only did Blanche and Neil Sosland’s children attend the Academy, Blanche Sosland said it’s been a thrill for them to watch their grandchildren go through the school. So far two have graduated and a third will do so later this spring.

The school, which started with 33 students in grades kindergarten through third grades, now has 232 students. A total of 325 students have graduated from HBHA, even though a high school wasn’t a part of the original plan.

Howard Haas, who is completing his fourth year as HBHA’s head of school, believes things are going well for the school.

“I used to call this place the jewel of the Midwest. Now I refer to it simply as the jewel. There’s nothing like it in America,” said Haas, who often serves as an expert presenter at education conferences around the country.

“The beautiful message of the school truly is that we try to create a nourishing environment that really challenges children. We want them to come to an understanding of who they truly are. We often say we try to define the child’s eccentricities and allow them to grow,” Haas said.

Many people, such as Eric Kaseff, president of HBHA’s board, believe the school offers a top-notch education. He has two children who attend HBHA — 10th-grader Rachel and seventh-grader Lainie.

“From an academic standpoint, I relied heavily on my wife, the professional educator in the family, to determine whether or not the academics were of the caliber that we wanted for our children. After evaluating the school and observing in the classrooms, she concluded that this school truly provides an outstanding academic environment and that has proven to be true.

Both the secular and the Judaic education are second to none,” Kaseff said.

As you would expect to be the case of most HBHA parents, Kaseff said another reason his family chose the day school is its strong Judaic program.

“The school reinforces what takes place in the Jewish home we have created for our kids and leaves them very comfortable with and proud of their Jewish tradition,” he said. “I feel blessed to be able to pass along this rich heritage of Jewish teaching and ethics to our girls. What we didn’t expect, and what pleases us as much as anything, is the warm and caring atmosphere that was evident the first time we walked in the door and remains a hallmark of the school.”

The “caring community” is what keeps many families at HBHA, including the Shapiro family. Molly Shapiro and her siblings — Peter, Julia and Tony — all attended the school. Between the four siblings they have nine children, eight of whom attend HBHA (the other is still in preschool).

There’s a Shapiro in kindergarten as well as grades four, five and eight. The sixth and eighth grades each have two Shapiro students. When it was time for Molly Shapiro to choose a school for her two children, she said there was no question she would send them to HBHA.

It’s a family,” she said. “When I hand my kids over I feel like I am handing them over to family members. I feel the utmost confidence and security and love and that’s just such a great feeling.”

A little history

Sosland said people tried for 15 years to start a Jewish day school here. A group comprised of Carol and Sidney Deutch, Bea and Milton Firestone, Joan and Walter March, Joan Puritz, Carl Puritz, Beryl Silberg and Blanche and Neil Sosland finally succeeded in 1966. The Deutches now live in Pittsburgh. The Firestones and Walter March are now deceased.

When the doors opened the school was called The Hebrew Academy of Kansas City. Its first classes were held at Congregation Ohev Sholom.

“Every Friday the teachers had to pack up their wares and store them and bring them back out again every Monday so Ohev Sholom could have Sunday school. Nevertheless the quality of the education that our kids got was fantastic,” Sosland said.

She believes two people deserve special recognition for their help in getting the school up and running. One is Rabbi Morris Margolies.

“Although he was not among the school’s founders, he was one of the schools biggest supporters and played a significant role in the founding of the school,” she said. “He was a coach and a mentor.”

In an article about the schools 25th anniversary published in 1991, Rabbi Margolies said the school’s founders, and the others that followed shortly thereafter, were the true heroes of Kansas City Jewish education “because they put their children and themselves and their hearts where their mouths were.”

Sosland said Milton Firestone, who was editor of The Chronicle, was also very instrumental in getting the school up and running because he was able to use the newspaper to publicize news about the school.

Sosland said the founders wanted their children to have a better Judaic education than was available to them.

“We wanted our children to get the kind of Judaic education that they would have to have in order to make an educated decision about what kind of Jewish life they would lead. The educational concept of the dual curriculum (Judaic and secular) is fantastic,” she said.

Each year after the Academy opened, a grade was added to the curriculum. In 1972 the Academy had reached the junior high school level. As the Academy gradually outgrew its space at Ohev Sholom, it began renting classrooms from the Asbury Methodist Church, which is located across the street from Ohev at 75th Street and Nall Avenue. In January of 1976, the first graduating class of nine students left the Academy and went on to further their studies in a variety of areas.

The school was renamed the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in 1997 following the death of Hyman Brand. HBHA’s first president, Brand was instrumental in raising the monies to get the school up and running and continued to find ways.

The school moved to its very own building at 5901 College in 1979. It moved into its current home at the Jewish Community Campus when the building opened in 1988.

The school’s future

Head of School Haas has found that the programs HBHA offers today are extremely innovative and unique. Because of those programs, and the school’s talented and passionate staff, he is happy to report that the future looks bright.

“We’re one of the few schools in America that is retaining students, certainly a higher percentage than we’ve ever had here and definitely more than across America. Our kindergarten two years ago was the biggest kindergarten we had in 10 years. That’s our first grade now and we have about 36 kids in that class, and our kindergarten this year has about 32. So we’re growing,” Haas said.

He said that while the school lost 18 students last year, 16 of those children moved out of the city.

“We’re not losing students because of dissatisfaction,” he said. “The percentage of kids who left is the lowest it’s ever been. We have more students than we had last year even though 16 moved.”

To help that growth, he said “we’re doing our best to bring in a program for our Orthodox community and we’re also doing a major concentration with our Reform community.”
Haas would also like to find a way to educate children with special needs. “That’s something that’s very close to my heart,” he said.

As it celebrates its 45th anniversary, Haas is proud of what the day school has accomplished and hopes to continue to accomplish.

“One hundred percent of our kids go to college,” he said. “The ideal is that these kids stay in the Kansas City area and become leaders of the community.”

Jewish federations have so far raised nearly $1 million to support the victims of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck near the coast of Japan on March 11. Those funds are being used in part to help pay for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s continuous, on-the-ground response in Japan. The deadly earthquake, ensuing tsunami and continuing nuclear crisis have left a reported 10,800 dead, while more than 16,000 remain missing and over 190,000 are living in shelters.

The JDC is now partnering with the Israel Defense Forces Field Hospital that will be operating in Minamisanriko, one of the many cities decimated by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. JDC — which previously supported IDF Field Hospitals in Haiti and Turkey — will be providing equipment such as an infant ventilator and portable ultrasound as well as life-saving antibiotics and other medications.

Kansas Citian Patricia Uhlman believes it’s important for Jews here to know how the world Jewish community is helping these victims.

“The Joint is considered a transparent, responsive, reliable conduit for humanitarian aid dollars. The Jewish communities of North America can be very certain that their funds are going to be utilized effectively and in a very timely way to provide need to those in Japan who need it at this time,” said Uhlmann, who is chairperson of the JDC’s international development program that oversees all the international non-sectarian aid and trauma relief needed for all manmade and natural disasters.

She added that since the situation on the ground is “so fluid and traumatic,” the JDC is constantly re-evaluating it in order to respond in the appropriate way.

Uhlmann also wants to point out that the world-wide Jewish community, through the Federation system and allocations to the Joint, is one of the top contributors in the world of financial aid.

“We raised $30 million to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina and almost $10 million for the tsunami in in Southeast Asia in 2004. So the Jewish community should be incredibly proud of the work that is being done on behalf of the victims in Japan,” Uhlmann said.

“It’s part of our value system to be concerned not just about our own family but the family of man,” she continued.

JDC CEO Steven Schwager said it’s been the organization’s experience in other earthquakes and tsunamis that the kind of unparalleled medical treatment the JDC will help bring through the IDF Field Hospital is vital to the recovery of the Japanese people.

“Even as we quickly provide these services during the emergency phase of our response, JDC is monitoring needs and assessing projects to help improve local lives in the longer-term,” said Schwager, who visited Kansas City last year.

In the two weeks since Japan was struck, JDC has provided:

• food, fuel, blankets, tents, and other emergency supplies to evacuation centers through the International Rescue Committee;

• emergency supplies to the hardest-hit Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures through JEN, a Japanese NGO and the Jewish Community of Japan;

• learning materials, teaching aids, emergency school supplies, among other services at child-friendly spaces for Japanese children through the U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Japan Committee for UNICEF;

• a critically needed water shipment and other emergency relief supplies through JDC’s partner Afya Foundation and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan’s aid and development arm;

• food and water bottle distribution from Chabad’s bakery in Sendai.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City is continuing to accept donations for the emergency relief fund to provide aid and support victims in Japan. Donations may be made online at the Federation’s website, www.jewishkansascity.org. Credit card donations may also be made over the phone by contacting Gail Weinberg at (913) 327-8123. Donations may be mailed to: The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, Att: Pacific Relief Fund, 5801 W. 115 St., Suite 201, Overland Park, KS 66211.

A few weeks ago Lori Palatanik, director of the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, was in Kansas City as a guest of the Community Kollel of Kansas City. At one event attended by more than 100 young adults, she discussed the Transform and Grow Israel Tour JWRP sponsors every summer. The women who were there were intrigued.

“Almost every woman who was in attendance came up to me or Gevura (Davis) and asked if she could go,” said Esther Sokoloff, wife of Rosh Kollel Rabbi Yehuda Sokoloff.

In just a few short weeks Sokoloff and Davis made arrangements for 10 local women — nine plus Sokoloff — to participate in the JWRP’s 10-day TAG Israel Experience. The women will leave July 18 and return July 28. The trip is sponsored by JWRP and the Kollel. The participants, who will be chosen through an application and interview process, pay solely for their airfare. The rest of the trip’s expenses are paid by the sponsors.

“I spoke to someone in Dallas and she said everything we do is the best of the best,” Sokoloff said. “Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience the educators are the best also.”

The trip is designed for women who have at least one child at home, who are interested in learning more about Judaism and who hope to become more involved in the local Jewish community.

“This is a unique program for Jewish mothers who, until now, have chosen everyone else above themselves,” Sokoloff explained.

“When these women go to Israel they will connect on many levels with each other and their Judaism. We hope they come back and give back their time to the community,” she continued.

Sokoloff said the trip itself will concentrate on fulfilling a woman’s spiritual, physical and emotional needs. Participants will travel across the Jewish state from Safed to Jerusalem. Among the items on the itinerary are floating in the Dead Sea, kayaking on the Jordan River, riding camels in the Judean desert, and visiting the Western Wall.

As well as touring the country, Sokoloff said there is a strong educational component as well. The women will attend Torah lectures, learn to make challah and serve the poor in soup kitchens. They will also have the opportunity to be inspired by the women of Israel who are soldiers, business leaders and politicians. About 1,000 women from around the world will take part in JWRP missions this summer.

The Kollel is currently seeking grants and donations to pay their share of the trip expenses. Sokoloff said as a trip sponsor, the Kollel is asking each woman who is chosen for the trip to volunteer 30 hours of their time upon their return to various activities in the Jewish community “in whatever way that they think is suitable for them.”

Application are currently available by contacting Sokoloff at . The will also soon be available at https://www.jwrp.org/SF/SSI/ApplicationForm.php. Applications are due by April 12.

Between the application and the interview, applicants will be asked to discuss a variety of subjects, including their Jewish background, whether or not they have been to Israel before, what types of Jewish experiences they have had in the past and what they hope to gain from participating in a TAG Israel Tour.

Sokoloff stressed that the idea of the trip is to inspire the participants, not necessarily to change them.

“The hope is that if a woman is inspired, she will inspire her family and ultimately inspire her community,” Solokoff said.

As a wife and the mother of three little boys, she understands it could be very hard to leave the family for this 10-day trip.

“But I think in the long run I’m doing the best thing for my family,” she said. “It’s a very small price to pay for the long-term results.”

Lunch is always a challenge for those who work during Passover. For the past 25 years Kehilath Israel Synagogue has tried to make that easier by sponsoring strictly kosher-for-Passover luncheons downtown. This year they will be held at noon on the two intermediate days of Passover, Thursday and Friday April 21 and 22.

“If people don’t want to do a sack lunch and have crumbs all over their desk they are more than welcome to join us,” said KI Senior Rabbi Herbert Mandl.

The meat lunches, which cost $12, will be catered by Hen House and are open to anyone in the community. They will be held at Paul Blackman’s office, Suite 800 Lawyers Associates, 1102 Grand Boulevard, in the conference room on the 20th floor. Parking is available on the street on in the parking garage at 11th and Grand. Rabbi Mandl also pointed out that the Downtown Minyan meets at that location as well.

“It has a gorgeous view of the whole downtown area,” he said.

In past years as many as 20 people have attended a luncheon. Rabbi Mandl sees these luncheons as a community service.

“I’d say at least half the people who come are not our members, just like the Downtown Minyan is made up of everybody in the community,” he said.
Rabbi Mandl said every year he sees people who office downtown, on the Plaza and even from North Kansas City.

“It’s probably worthwhile for anyone who is within 15 to 20 minutes from downtown,” Rabbi Mandl said. “There’s ample parking in that area. And we serve right away if anyone is on a tight schedule.”

Reservations for the luncheon are being accepted by KI through April 15. Send checks, made out to Kehilath Israel Synagogue, to 10501 Conser, Overland Park, KS 66212. Be sure to include whether the reservation is for April 21, April 22 or both days. For more information, call (913) 642-1880.

The lack of and desire to have a pet, led to Elizabeth Gerson’s Bat Mitzvah project, “Paws for a Cause.”  Like many today, having a Bat Mitzvah means learning to give back to society. And Elizabeth did that in a big way! She earned more than $2,000 that was split between Wayside Waifs and Animal Haven, two animal shelters in the Kansas City area.

“Since at home we don’t have any pets, I wanted to help animals and get food for shelters,” said Elizabeth, who became a Bat Mitzvah at New Reform Temple in November.

She analyzed her market and came up with a wonderful plan. “I knew friendship bracelets were very popular with my friends at school,” said Elizabeth, a seventh-grade student at Pembrook Hill. She was able to purchase woven friendship bracelets and little silver paw charms with her Bat Mitzvah money. She then put them together with packaging and made 500 Paws for a Cause friendship bracelets.

Each bracelet sold for a $5 donation. Elizabeth and her dad, Jim Gerson, went to several weekend events sponsored by both Wayside Waifs and Animal Haven, like “Strut with your Mutt” held this fall for Wayside Waifs. She set up her bracelet display at each event. “Some people gave more than the $5 donation,” she said.

“We are beyond thrilled she was able to raise so much money for the animals,” said Ashlee Parker, communications relations manager at Wayside Waifs. “It was remarkable to have a 13-year-old girl be able to do this.”

“This was a labor of love for Elizabeth,” said her mother, Katie Gerson. “Because she enjoyed this so much she has asked about extending her volunteerism and wants to do more.” That’s a feeling that makes her parents very proud. “It has given her a good start, and now she has other ideas to help others,” added her mother.

In fact Elizabeth says, “I am definitely looking into volunteering. It would be awesome to volunteer at a shelter!”

Elizabeth also acknowledges her mother’s help. “My mom helped with the name, ‘Paws for a Cause.’ I wanted something really catchy!”

After selling about 400 of her 500 bracelets, Elizabeth had almost 100 left over. She donated these to the two shelters, giving each a display as well. So even though her project is officially over, the shelters are still earning some money from her work.

“What an amazing young woman. Her generosity and compassion will help so many homeless pets while they are in our shelter,” said Teresa Johnson, Animal Haven’s chief executive officer. “The money she raised for Animal Haven will help us pay for food to feed all the dogs and cats in our shelter for almost a month.”

But Elizabeth knows she could not have done this project by herself. “I could not have done this without the help and support of friends and family, and the people at Wayside Waifs and Animal Haven,” she said. “Thank you to everyone who bought a bracelet!”

Once upon a time Gevura Davis was called Lauren and wanted to be editor of The New York Times. Today, when she thinks about her goals, she’s reminded of what one of her favorite rabbis said: “To be a Jew and live Judaism is to try to take care of as many people with your one precious life that you can, starting with yourself, your family and your community.”

“I had some character building Jewish experiences that led me in this direction,” said Davis, “starting with quitting my cheerleading squad because my evangelical coach wanted everyone to go to church together. Then I went to and worked at a Reform Jewish summer camp and later Camp Ramah.”

At Emory University, Davis enrolled in Deborah Lipstadt’s class around the same time Lipstadt was sued for libel by a Holocaust denier. “I had a moment in her class when I thought, wow, this is the world I was born into. What am I going to do about it?”

These experiences propelled Davis to Hebrew University in Jerusalem for what she thought would be a year. But, as she puts it, “I fell in love with the Zionist dream.” Davis went back to Emory for one semester, graduated a year early, made aliyah, became a fully observant Jew, and committed herself to making the world a better place.

Back in Israel, she attended a center for advanced women’s studies, met her husband, Rabbi Binyomin Davis, and had her first child, all by age 22. The couple moved to Kansas City in 2007 to serve the Kansas City Kollel, a group of scholars who study and teach Torah in classrooms, board rooms and one-on-one study.

Much in common

Davis recalls participating in Jewish Federation programs as something fun to do with her children and to meet new people. She was hesitant at first to attend Women’s Division B’not Kehillah leadership program because she didn’t know anyone else and had just had her third baby a few weeks earlier. She ended up enjoying it so much she went through the program a second time and, after joining the Young Women’s Council, came up with Yehudit, the group’s new name, which means “of the tribe of Judah” and recalls the heroine of the Chanukah story.

“We all share our struggles and joys in life and have so much in common,” she says. “I really love getting to know different women and people I would never come in contact with if not for the Federation.

“The bottom line is that the Federation helps several thousand people a year who are really in need. When I help strengthen the Federation, I feel like I’m helping to strengthen them. I also realize that if I want strong institutions to be here for my children, I need to roll up my sleeves.”

Kollel rebbetzin

As the wife of a Kollel rabbi, Davis’s volunteer roles blur a bit. For the Kollel, on average, she hosts 100 people a month in her home. She also spends many hours helping her husband make sure the Kollel programs are well marketed, well attended and well executed.

“One of the Kollel’s goals is to bring the community together through Jewish living and learning,” she said. “What I call ‘down-to-earth spirituality.’ ”

In February, Davis taught a class for Women’s Division’s Yad B’yad Series on the three “women’s mitzvot.” She also organized a sold-out challah baking program jointly sponsored by Yehudit, B’not Or Hadassah and the Kollel and makes herself available to provide a hands-on challah-baking class for groups of three women or more in their home or hers.

Her most recently commitment, and one she is “extremely excited about,” is helping a group of women go on a learning and leadership mission to Israel sponsored by the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project. Those interested in learning more about it can contact her at .

Davis’s primary commitment is to her four young children, but she’s also involved as a parent at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, serves on the board of Congregation BIAV, has a part-time job as administrator of Kehilath Israel Synagogue’s religious school, and is in the process of applying to go back to school for a master’s degree in social work with a concentration in nonprofit administration.

“People often say to me, ‘Aren’t you tired,’” she said. “I feel such a strong debt of gratitude for being born in this generation. So one of my philosophies of life is to use my energy to be happy doing as much good as I can.”

Gevura Davis

Born in Atlanta, 1981
Wheeler High School, Marietta, Ga., 1999
Emory University, B.A., Judaic Studies, 2002
Married to Rabbi Binyomin Davis, 2003
Lives in Overland Park
Children: Baruch Mordechai, 7; Ezriel, 5; Temima, 3; and Rochel Leah, 15 months
Recent Reading: CNN website, books on parenting and health
Favorite Movie: “Pay It Forward”
Favorite Jewish Food: Matzah balls
Trips to Israel: Lived In Jerusalem for six years
Synagogue Affiliation: Congregation BIAV