Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed a proclamation last week speaking out against anti-Semitism, and the Governor’s Mansion was host April 10 to a commemoration of the Holocaust. Guest speakers included Holocaust survivor Sonia Warshawski and her daughter Regina Kort. The event was organized by the state’s Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Sam Devinki is the Kansas City representation on the commission.
A NOTE ABOUT KOSHER SPIRITS, PASSOVER AND TOM’S TOWN — A few weeks ago we told you that several spirits produced by the local Tom’s Town Distilling Co. have been certified kosher by the Vaad HaKashruth of Kansas City. We are also thrilled Tom’s Town decided to advertise those products in The Chronicle. But we need to point out that grain alcohol is NOT deemed kosher during Passover. So if you haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy a kosher spirit from Tom’s Town just yet, you’ll have to wait to sample the kosher vodka, gin and bourbon after Passover.
GUILTY — On Monday a Jackson County jury found Brandon Howell guilty of a 2014 quintuple killing spree in a south Kansas City neighborhood. One of the victims was Susan Choucroun, an active member of the Jewish community.
The violent events took place early in the afternoon of Sept. 2, 2014. Choucroun, a member of three local congregations as well as several Jewish and interfaith organizations, was found shot to death in the driveway of her home. Two others, Lorene Hurst and Darrel Hurst, were also found dead at the scene. George and Ann Taylor were found severely beaten in their basement and later died in the hospital. In all Howell was convicted of all charges, which included burglary, illegal possession of a firearm, motor vehicle theft and four counts of armed criminal action.
Following the trial, Choucroun’s brother Ron Sandhaus was quoted in the Kansas City Star.
“We are certainly glad to have this over,” he said. “It has been a long four and a half years, but the jury got it right and hopefully (Howell) is staring at five life sentences without parole.”
Congregation Ohev Sholom Rabbi Scott White attended parts of the trial.
“I ran into Susan’s brother Ron and sister-in-law Becky, and I expressed my disappointment that it’s taken so long to come to trial, a sentiment they said they share,” Rabbi White said. “As if losing Susan wasn’t enough — the long wait on top of it just adds insult to injury.”
Howell’s sentencing has not yet been set.
FIRE RAVAGES NOTRE DAM CATHEDRAL IN PARIS (JNS) — Members of the Jewish community reacted with sadness to the massive fire that burst through the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday and toppled its spire.
“Terrible images of the Cathedral of Paris in flames. Solidarity and fraternal thoughts to the Catholics of France. Immense sadness in the face of this tragedy that is burying our country,” tweeted Francis Kalifat, president of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France, the umbrella organization for Jewish organizations in France.
The roof was undergoing construction. As of Tuesday, the fire was being called an accident, though an investigation is underway.
The American Jewish Committee said it is “heartbroken.”
“This is a tragedy for Catholics, the people of France, and all who revere that majestic edifice. We are hopeful that it will be swiftly restored to its prior splendor,” tweeted AJC.
“Notre Dame Cathedral is an icon of the Parisian skyline and a testament to human ingenuity. Let us all hope for a speedy resolution to this tragedy before more priceless history is lost,” tweeted the World Jewish Congress.
A memorial to those deported from Vichy France to Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust, Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation, is located underground behind the cathedral.
Village Shalom’s ‘A Defining Moment’ $16 million capital campaign to support a new state-of-the-art memory care community and an expanded therapy gym is led by Sanford Krigel (left) and Joseph Hiersteiner (right) along with its President and CEO Matt Lewis.
The corner of 123rd and Nall is lined with signs of progress. Work is underway on the Village Shalom strategic campus expansion and repositioning project, currently set for completion in 2020. These tangible signs of growth began when the community broke ground in July 2018, but the seeds of growth have taken root through years of important behind-the-scenes efforts, particularly through those behind the “A Defining Moment” capital fundraising campaign.
Crew members work on the Gwozdziec ceiling panels.
The remarkable, award-winning documentary, “Raise the Roof,” a featured presentation of the Kansas City Jewish Film Festival, recounts the amazing rediscovery and recreation of a vanished universe of Jewish synagogue artistry. It will be shown at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 28, as part of the 19th annual festival put on by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City.
The film will be screened at The White Theatre at The J, 5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park. The festival continues through May 12. Details can be found at kcjff.org.
Rick and Laura Brown, with the Handhouse Studio outside Boston and affiliated with the Massachusetts College of Art, will be in Kansas City for the film’s screening to explain their efforts to recreate stunning examples of the art and architecture common to wooden Jewish synagogues that spanned the centuries in Poland before they were destroyed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. In a unique opportunity, the filmmakers will take part in a discussion and Q & A session following the movie.
The creation of the Gwozdziec Synagogue roof structure depicted in the film took many years and expanded to involve a global team of students and artisans. In just six weeks this extraordinary team hewed, sawed and carved 200 freshly logged trees and assembled the structure, using only techniques available when the original synagogue was built. Working against this deadline and despite torrential downpours and exhaustion, the team recreated the massive structure and disassembled it again for shipping and eventual installation in The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.
To paint the intricate ceiling murals, the Browns faced another challenge: the only surviving photographs of Gwozdziec were black and white, and there had been only one previous study done to estimate what the colors had been. Using that study as their “Rosetta Stone,” the Browns slowly built a library of Gwozdziec’s colors.
“From 2004 to 2007 we worked with students and professionals, in classes and workshops, researching and making large scale models of the exterior of Zabłudow Synagogue and interior paintings of Gwozdziec Synagogue and a full scale replica of the Gwozdziec bimah” said Laura Brown, project co-creator.
Brown went on to describe “the awesome power of the finished synagogue roof and ceiling to everyone who saw it, who walked under it. It made me speechless and overwhelmed.”
She and Rick were also surprised by the lack of awareness of the history of the wooden synagogues in the Jewish world community and in Poland, and were motivated by the need for more knowledge about the topic. Neither of them professes to provide answers to all the questions surrounding the loss of these wonderful structures. Instead, “We just provided the synagogue.”
“Our first objective was to replicate a wooden synagogue built in the 18th century,” Rick Brown said. “But the film goes on to illustrate how the process of recreating a structure quickly turned into a multi-faceted learning adventure on a global scale.”
Individual tickets are $12 while a festival pass is just $84 for all eight films, saving 15 percent.
For more information about the showing, visit kcjff.org or call 913-327-8054.
Award-winning author of non-fiction books, Matti Friedman, will talk about his newest book, “Spies of No Country,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at the Jewish Community Campus.
Detailing the time before Israel was a state and the group of Jewish spies, from Arab countries, who went undercover during the War for Independence, “Spies of No Country” discusses the fate of these original spies and their legacy. “Spies of No Country” is the recipient of the 2018 Natan Book Award, awarded in conjunction with the Jewish Book Council.
“The small ad-hoc intelligence unit at the center of this story, the Arab Section, ended up being one of the seeds of the Mossad,” Friedman said. “This very amateurish group of young men goes on to play a key role in creating Israel’s famous intelligence apparatus. The new idea they bring in the mid-1940s is that the Jews don’t need to pay Arab collaborators for information about the other side — they can use Jewish agents who are capable of operating undercover across enemy lines. … Early Israel’s enormous population of native Arabic-speaking Jews is a treasure for a spy service. This realization has a lot to do with the success of the Mossad in Israel’s early decades.”
Born in Canada and now a resident of Israel, Friedman was a member of the Israel Defense Forces and then a correspondent for the Associated Press. His 2014 article in The Atlantic magazine, “What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel,” drew wide attention, and he continues to write about what he considers to be widespread anti-Israel bias. He is currently a reporter for the Times of Israel and a contributor to Tablet Magazine.
His search for facts led him to write his two previous books. The first, “The Aleppo Codex: In Pursuit of One of the World’s Most Coveted, Sacred and Mysterious Books,” which explains how the Aleppo Codex was smuggled out of Syria and into Israel, won several awards including the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, The American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Medal and the Canadian Jewish Book Award. His second book, “Pumpkinflowers” details his experiences as an IDF soldier during a conflict with Lebanon.
After two successful books, he decided to write about Israel’s first spies because: “I was looking for two things — a compelling story with complicated characters, and a story that would make a point about Israel’s repressed identity as a country that thinks of itself as European but is actually Middle Eastern,” he said. “This story — in which the main characters are Jews from Arab countries who assume Arab identities to help found the State of Israel — was perfect.”
During his presentation at the Jewish Community Campus, Friedman will hold a conversation with Jewish Federation President and CEO Helene Lotman. He will discuss his newest book, “Spies of No Country,” as well as his views on the current events in Israel, which are impacted by the mixture of European Jews and those from surrounding Arab countries, who helped establish Israel.
“I think we still tell ourselves stories about Israel that are simple and European in character — Herzl and the early Zionists, pogroms in Europe, the kibbutz, the Holocaust. But these stories don’t really explain the real country that exists, and that I live in, in 2019,” Friedman said. “Half of the Jews in Israel have roots in the Islamic world, where there were 1 million Jews in the 1940s. That population was displaced and largely moved here, shaping the country. Understanding their story is crucial, not as a footnote but perhaps as the main event, more important to Israel today than the story of the European founders.”
His appearance at the Jewish Community Campus is presented by the Jewish Community Center in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City and made possible by a grant from the Sam M. Schultz Jewish Book Fair Fund. Go to thejkc.org/spies to register.
Bunni Copaken (left) and the late Beth K. Smith were inducted in the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame in March. (Courtesy UMKC)
Every two years the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame recognizes a group of extraordinary Kansas City women and preserves the history of their accomplishments. These women are social reformers, volunteers, philanthropists, civic leaders, activists and educators. They are neighborhood leaders and grassroots organizers, from yesterday and today, both famous and unsung. They are movers and shakers whose tireless commitment to community has made Kansas City a better place to live.This year’s group, which was inducted on March 22 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, includes two members of the Jewish community — Bunni Copaken and the late Beth K. Smith. The other eight inductees are the late Mary Tiera Farrow, the late Laura Rollins Hockaday, Mamie Hughes, the late Dr. Patricia A. McIlrath, Janet Murguía, Mona Lea Perry, the late Nell Quinlan (Donnelly) Reed and Dr. Linda Hood Talbott. Philanthropist advocates for women and the artsBunni Copaken envisions the arts as a vehicle to promote racial understanding and inclusivity, which led her to create opportunities for people from disparate backgrounds to meet, connect and create together. “Copaken is best known as a philanthropic leader and community advocate who believes unequivocally in the importance of equity and opportunity for women and in the power of the arts to unite people,” said Angela Gieras, executive director of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Copaken is a founding board member of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey (KCFAA), and a longstanding member of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre board of directors. She shares the belief of renowned dancer Alvin Ailey that the arts break down artificial barriers between people and unite communities. Fueled by this, she empowered and mobilized people to create a community around the arts in Kansas City.“Copaken’s vision of the arts as a vehicle to promote racial understanding and inclusivity led her to create opportunities for people from disparate backgrounds to meet, connect and create something wonderful together,” Gieras said. “Out of these connections, which Copaken lovingly fosters to this day, has risen a city united and inspired by a common passion in the arts.”She was instrumental in creating the KCFAA AileyCamp, now replicated in 10 cities nationwide, an award-winning day camp built on the philosophy that the skills needed to learn dance are the same skills needed for broader success in life. Her commitment to empowering individuals doesn’t stop there. Copaken is also a founding member of the Women’s Foundation and a past president of the Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri. Her work to promote equity, inclusion and opportunity for women has left an undeniable mark in Kansas City.“Copaken made it possible for women in our community to become philanthropists in their own right,” said Ann Spivak, vice president of development, Women’s Foundation. “She has led us to a place where we can influence decision makers in our community to affect real, meaningful change for thousands of women in both Kansas and Missouri.” An immovable force for equality and justice in Kansas CityA 1943 graduate of Wellesley College with a degree in economics, Beth K. Smith went on to earn her M.P.A. from the Henry W. Bloch School of Management in 1976. She went on to co-found The Central Exchange and The Women’s Employment Network (WEN).In the early 1960s, Smith became an activist and advocate for both women’s and civil rights, culminating in leadership roles with the Kansas City Human Rights Commission. Over the years, she consistently worked to help women in Kansas City reach their full personal and professional potential. In 1978, Smith co-founded The Central Exchange with 2015 Starr Women’s Hall of Fame inductee Marjorie Powell Allen and in 1986 the two launched The Women’s Employment Network (WEN). The organizations were created with the aim to promote equity, inspire confidence and foster economic independence for women. Additionally, Smith was instrumental in founding the Women’s Foundation of Greater Kansas City and the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership.She also served as an adjunct professor at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management and established the Edward Smith internships to encourage students to pursue careers at nonprofits in Kansas City.The recipient of numerous awards, Smith received the first American Jewish Committee Human Relations Award, the Bridge Builder Award for improving race relations and the first ATHENA Award given by the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, U.S. House of Representatives, called Smith, “an immovable force for equality and justice in this community,” during his time as Kansas City mayor.“From the days of the 1960s to the turn of the 21st century, Smith was an ardent advocate, leader and collaborator — one who was committed to the cause of supporting the development of opportunities for the women of the region while also working tirelessly to strengthen the fabric and vitality of the community as a whole,” said David O. Renz, Ph.D., Missouri Chair in Nonprofit Leadership at UMKC. The Hall of Fame honors the inductees’ legacies by sharing their stories to encourage and inspire women everywhere. A permanent display honoring these women is open to the public on the third floor of the Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.The Hall of Fame is named in honor of Martha Jane Phillips Starr, a legendary activist and philanthropist who blazed a trail for family issues and women’s rights. The Hall of Fame is made possible through the Starr Education Committee, Martha Jane Starr’s family and the Starr Field of Interest Fund through the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. This story originally appeared in UMKC Today and is reprinted by permission. Julie Bunge, Patricia O’Dell and Hallie Spencer of UMKC contributed to this report.
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION RESULTS — In case you missed the results from last week’s election for seats on the Kansas City (Missouri) Public Schools Board of Education, both Jewish candidates won their races and were expected to be sworn in yesterday (April 10). Rita Marie Cortés, executive director of the Menorah Heritage Foundation, will represent Sub-District 1. Mark Wasserstrom will represent Sub-District 5. Wasserstrom is a retired attorney and very active in B’nai B’rith Lodge #184.
VOTE NOW FOR SHOW UP FOR SHABBAT — Five months ago, AJC’s Show Up For Shabbat campaign inspired countless people of all faiths to flock to synagogues here in Kansas City, across America and around the world in the wake of the horrific attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. It was the largest expression of solidarity with the Jewish community in American history.
#ShowUpForShabbat united millions of people to honor the victims of the attack and to send a powerful message: hate will not prevail. #ShowUpForShabbat has been named an official nominee for the 23rd Webby Awards, known as “the Oscars of the Internet.” #ShowUpForShabbat was viewed over a quarter of a billion times on social media and caught the attention of world leaders, Hollywood celebrities, elected officials and diplomats and clergy, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, then-Speaker Paul Ryan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and actress Mayim Bialik.
Voting is open through Thursday, April 18, at 11:59 p.m. PST. To vote, visit vote.webbyawards.com and then search for AJC. It’s easy to register and follow the instructions to vote. I did it!
SONGS FROM JEWBELONG — I recently came across the website JewBelong.com. Its mission is to welcome people to Judaism with Jewish readings and rituals that many people can relate to and has been up and running since 2016. I enjoyed its explanation of Passover:
“Passover offers countless ways to celebrate freedom and think about the future ... and it’s observed at home. No wonder it’s the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday! First, let’s get the terms straight ... Passover is the name of the eight-day holiday. The seder is like a fantastic dinner party, with delicious food and thought-provoking conversation built in (not to mention plenty of singing and wine). The Haggadah is the guidebook, kind of like a script, for the seder.”
I found myself singing some of the Passover songs I found on the website out loud. Check this one out:
“There’s No Seder Like Our Seder” (To the tune of “There’s No Business Like Show Business”)
Jewish Federation celebrated the biggest Note-a-Thon ever, with 60 volunteers who came out to write and send more than 900 personal notes to donors, asking for their support in 2019. This Community Campaign kick off brings in tens of thousands of dollars to sustain and enhance Jewish life at home and around the world each year. Shown here (from left): Barbara Rogoff, Women’s Philanthropy Campaign chair, Sandi Fried, Jewish Federation Campaign co-chair; Dr. Helene Lotman, president and CEO; Barb Kovacs, Women’s Philanthropy board chair; Amanda K. Morgan, Jewish Federation Campaign co-chair; Laurie Goldstein, director of Women’s Philanthropy; Lisa Schifman, director of Financial Resource Development.
On the heels of a record-breaking annual community campaign year, Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City is kicking off its 2019 campaign with big plans.
“In 2018, which also happened to be our 85th anniversary, we raised $5.46 million — our biggest annual campaign ever. This year, we hope to accomplish even more with our annual fundraising, which will allow us to invest in even more programs and initiatives that sustain and enhance Jewish life,” said Dr. Helene Lotman, president and CEO of Jewish Federation.
Lori Samazin (left) and Alexandra Samazin (right) snapped this photo with SevenDays founder Mindy Corporon at a SevenDays event last year.
Raised in a Reform Jewish home, the importance of tikkun olam, repairing the world, was instilled in Alexandra Samazin early on. That desire to do what she can to make the world a better place inspired the young woman to do her part first as a volunteer for SevenDays — Make a Ripple Change the World, and now as an employee of Faith Always Wins, the foundation that organizes the event.
A film director and editor with ties to Kansas City will start off the Kansas City FilmFest International with his documentary “Love, Antosha,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 10.
The film paints a portrait of the life and career of actor Anton Yelchin and the impact he had on so many around him. Yelchin was a Jewish actor well-known for his role as Pavel Chekov in the “Star Trek” film series. Born in what is now Saint Petersburg, Russia, Yelchin and his family fled religious oppression and came to the U.S. when he was 6 months old. Yelchin died in a freak accident involving his SUV in 2016.
Director Garret Price became involved in the documentary when his friend, who was close friends with Yelchin, recruited him to make a movie about Yelchin’s life. Price met Yelchin’s family and was instantly mesmerized by the stories they told of Yelchin and his creative drive that pushed him toward a successful acting career. Price had always been an editor by trade, working on the TV series “Nashville,” a Janice Joplin documentary and other films, but after hearing Yelchin’s story, he was hooked on the idea of shaping it.
“I thought it was a story that needed to be shared and told to a larger audience,” Price said.
Yelchin’s parents always knew one day they might want to find a filmmaker to tell his story, so they collected home videos and personal letters he had written that Price would later dig through to turn into a film. Price said the most challenging aspect of his directorial debut was crafting a well-rounded story that showcased Yelchin as an awesome person who is, like everyone else, still just a human with flaws instead of putting him on a pedestal.
“I think trying to carve a story that people can connect with at the same time as showing respect the artist deserves … that’s always a challenge but I think we found a balance in the film,” he said.
Anton Yelchin (courtesy Garret Price)
“Love, Antosha,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 with many celebrity appearances. Nicholas Cage, a close friend of Yelchin’s, narrated his words and letters in the film. Actors such as Chris Pine, Jennifer Lawrence, Kristin Stewart and Jodie Foster provided on-screen interviews.
“The list goes on and on of people that he worked that with were deeply affected by him in their lives,” he said.
Premiering the film at Sundance was surreal to Price, especially since Yelchin himself had been a part of so many projects showcased at the festival over the years. He said that since “Love, Antosha” was essentially Yelchin’s last film, that night at Sundance felt magical and emotional.
“You could feel his presence still there, and the amount of people he affected is just staggering,” he said.
Those who aren’t familiar with Yelchin will become interested in learning more about him as they watch the film, Price said. In introducing viewers to Yelchin, he hopes they are left with a desire to watch all the movies Yelchin’s been a part of.
The most rewarding part of Price’s directorial debut was sharing the film with Yelchin’s parents. At dinner after the premiere, Price said Yelchin’s father, Russian figure skater Viktor Yelchin, pulled him aside.
“(He) said, ‘You know, what I love most about this is that I get to spend an hour and a half with my son every time that I watch it,’” Price said. “There’s nothing stronger than that and that’s why I did it. No matter what happens with this movie, that tops it all. (I have) at least some comfort knowing they had this tool that I helped make to help share their son with the world.”
Unbeknownst to Price at the time, programmers for the Kansas City FilmFest International were at the premiere at Sundance in Park City, Utah. They watched his directorial debut and wanted Kansas City to experience it, too. Price is especially excited to show his film in the city his father, Steve Price, was raised in. His father grew up in Prairie Village and graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School. Garret Price is the grandson of Janet and Harold Price.
“Kansas City holds a special place in my heart because my father’s from there and my grandparents still live there,” he said. “I grew up my whole life visiting … being able to invite my grandparents to come see it in Kansas City is just really special to me.”
The Kansas City FilmFest International will take place April 10-14 at Cinemark on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. 2019 VIP Passes offering priority access to panels, seminars, after-parties and the VIP Filmmakers Lounge are available and start at $80. Gold Festival Passes, granting unlimited films, are $45. To buy passes or tickets to a film, visit kcfilmfest.org.
Several of Tom’s Town Distilling Co.’s spirits are now kosher.
TOM’S TOWN IS KOSHER — According to our friends at the Vaad HaKashruth of Kansas City, one of the most recent and exciting additions to the kosher scene is Tom’s Town Distilling Co. Tom’s Town is a craft distillery that produces vodka, gin and bourbon. Its owners — David Eptsein and Steve Revare — call it Kansas City’s first legal distillery since Prohibition, which ran from 1920 to 1933. It offers a full bar and appetizers, event space for as many as 250 people and tours of its operation. The distillery’s kosher products hit the shelves a few weeks ago and you should be able to find Tom’s Town’s Botanical Gin, Double Grain Vodka and Double Oak Bourbon with the Vaad symbol along with the special batch code 19.01. In fact, all Tom’s Town’s products are kosher except Pendergast Royal Gold bourbon. You can pick them up directly at the distillery, located at 1701 Main St., or selected liquor stores.
MAZEL TOV RABBI DEBBIE STIEL — This week, Rabbi Debbie Stiel of Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka is attending the Central Conference of American Rabbis in Cincinnati, celebrating the 200th birthday of Isaac Mayer Wise and the 130th anniversary of the CCAR. She is also celebrating a milestone of her own, 25 years in the rabbinate. She was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati campus, and the seminary has a tradition of conferring an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on its rabbis after 25 years of service to the Jewish people. During her career, she was the first female rabbi to serve a pulpit in Omaha, Nebraska and in Topeka, where she is now in her “Bat Mitzvah” year. She wrote in Beth Sholom’s April Bulletin, “I am truly honored to be your rabbi. And I am astounded, humbled, and grateful to God for the privilege of being a rabbi in Israel.”
RACIST AND ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI DISCOVERED IN TOPEKA — Rabbi Stiel informed us early this week that anti-Semitic and anti-black content was recently discovered in a Topeka neighborhood. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal in an article written by Katie Moore, the graffiti, including a swastika, was sprayed on a street in an undeveloped part of a subdivision near Lake Shawnee.
Rabbi Stiel told the newspaper, “I am saddened to learn of this graffiti. Our city and our world deserve better.”
Another incident of anti-Semitic graffiti was reported in the area in August 2018.
The newspaper reported the graffiti discovered last week included disparaging remarks about Israel, blacks and Parkland student activist David Hogg.
NEW ON THE SHELVES, PART I — Blanche Sosland, Ph.D., has a new book out that we will feature in the pages of The Chronicle soon. In case you don’t want to wait a few weeks to read about it, you can order a copy of “Banishing Bullying Behavior: A Call to Action: From Early Childhood Through Senior Adulthood” on Amazon now. It’s available in paperback and Kindle format. It is a call to action that has been described as “a toolkit that exposes the ugly truths of the way we treat others and see others being treated. We so often associate bullying with young children and teenagers. But as the book makes clear, it is a cycle that does not stop until we work to stop it.” Stay tuned for more insight regarding Dr. Sosland’s newest book.
NEW ON THE SHELVES, PART II — Jaime Metzl also has a new book out, “Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity,” and you can find a review of it on Page 20. He will be in town next week for several events, including free lectures on the genetics revolution on Monday, April 8, at the Kansas City Public Library Plaza Branch, and Tuesday morning, April 9, at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. That night he will give the keynote speech at the Center for Practical Bioethics 2019 Annual Dinner.
KU’S AEPi HOSTS WALK TO REMEMBER — A fraternity at the University of Kansas is hosting an event Wednesday, April 10, commemorating the families who lost loved ones from the Holocaust. The second annual Walk to Remember event will include speeches from KU Hillel’s Rabbi Neil Schuster, KU Chabad’s Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod and a Holocaust survivor. The 1.5-mile walk will begin after the speeches at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house, 1116 Indiana St., and begins at 5:30 p.m. Participants will walk to the Campanile and back to the AEPi house.
“We’re walking 1.5 miles, which is the distance of the walk from the death camp from Auschwitz to Birkenau where millions were killed,” said Evan Satlin, Alpha Epsilon Pi’s civics chair and the event coordinator.
Members of the Lawrence and surrounding communities are encouraged to attend the free event.
AEPi MIZZOU’S ROCKIN’ ROUND THE CLOCK — Our friends at the St. Louis Jewish Light and its editor, Ellen Futterman, provided us with this story about the AEPi chapter at the University of Missouri’s annual Rock-A-Thon.
Mizzou senior Edan Goldfarb admits he’s not quite sure how to prepare himself to rock in a chair for 63 straight hours without a bathroom break. But he said he’s determined to do just that in downtown Columbia from 6:30 a.m. today (Thursday, April 4) to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, to raise money for the American Cancer Society and March of Dimes.
Goldfarb is indeed putting the “rock” in the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) Rock-A-Thon, the largest single fraternity philanthropy in the country, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
“I still haven’t gotten the answer as to exactly how I will do this, but I’m planning to go with the flow and figure it out. I am committed to this,” said Goldfarb, a senior in broadcast journalism. “For me, rocking in a chair for 63 hours doesn’t seem all that difficult, especially compared to the people who are fighting cancer and other terrible diseases. What they are doing is 10 times harder than what I am about to do.”
The 100-plus brothers of AEPi elected Goldfarb to this task, who said he had wanted to do this since his freshman year. While he rocks, his fraternity brothers will canvass throughout mid-Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City for donations. The public can also donate online, at crowdrise.com/mizzourockathon. More information is available at mizzourockathon.com.
“Our hope is to break the record we set in 2015 of $132,000,” said co-chair Jordan Bernstein, a senior at Mizzou majoring in business and economics. Bernstein explained that since the every-other-year Rock-A-Thon started in 1969, AEPi has collected close to $1 million. This year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary, AEPi hosted a gala, featuring former Mizzou football coach and cancer survivor Gary Pinkel, along with a golf tournament at Forest Park in St. Louis with hopes of raising more money than ever before.
“We wanted to hit it out of the park this year,” said Bernstein, adding that part of this year’s mission is to spread awareness about pancreatic cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. (Check out more in St. Louis Jewish Light at stljewishlight.com.)
DO YOU HAVE YOUR HAGGADOT READY? — Passover begins the evening of Friday, April 19, and if you are like me you are already thinking about the seder. Reader Maury Kohn sent me a note that he and his wife discovered you can order large-print haggadahs free from JBI International (Jewish Braille Institute). I discovered they are also accessible for download and are available in several languages. To receive the book by mail, books need to be ordered before April 12. Visit jbilibrary.org or call 800-999-6476 for more information.
If you are looking for downloadable haggadahs to enhance your seder experience, a simple Google search will give you a variety of other options. Don’t forget beautiful hard copies, which can be found at our local synagogue gift shops and at a variety of online retailers, are also lovely options.
The cover of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ edition of the Maxwell House Haggadah. (Maxwell House)
MAXWELL HOUSE IS OFFERING A ‘MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL’ HAGGADAH (JTA) — Real-life tradition and television nostalgia collide in a collaboration between the venerable Maxwell House Haggadah and the hit Amazon series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
The coffee company is offering a limited-edition version of its Haggadah featuring illustrations and other shtick based on the show about an aspiring Jewish comedian and her extended family of Jewish relatives in late 1950s New York.
The “Maisel” Haggadah is a throwback to an earlier edition of the Haggadah, which the company has been offering as a holiday giveaway since 1932. Illustrations of Midge Maisel and other characters are scattered throughout the new version, which also has handwritten notations by Rachel Brosnahan’s character as well as faux wine stains.
The limited-run Haggadahs are available to those who order Maxwell House coffee via Amazon.com.
“There is an organic link between the Maxwell House and ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ brands, and we quickly aligned on the idea of creating Midge’s Haggadah — a combination of the 1958 classic version and Midge’s amazing personality,” Naor Danieli, brand manager for Maxwell House, said in a statement.
Bunni Copaken (left) and the late Beth K. Smith were inducted in the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame in March. (Courtesy UMKC)
