Archived News

Rabbi Beryl Padorr is seeing a dream come true and at the same time is making history.
Last week Congregation Ohev Sholom congregation co-presidents Adam E. Miller and Mike Silverman announced Rabbi Padorr has been chosen to serve as the Conservative congregation’s next senior rabbi. She will succeed Rabbi Scott White who is retiring from the pulpit when his contract expires in the summer of 2019.
When she takes over Aug. 1, 2019, Rabbi Padorr will become the first female to serve as a senior congregational rabbi in the greater Kansas City area.
(It should be noted there are two rabbis in the region who are the sole spiritual leaders of their congregations — Rabbi Debbie Stiel at Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka, and Rabbi Linda Steigman at Temple Adath Joseph in St. Joseph.)

“Thirty (is the age) for (full) strength.”
-- Pirke Avot 5:24

As Congregation Beth Torah turns 30, its leaders believe the Reform synagogue has attained full strength and is on a sustainable path — so they are celebrating.

History

Beth Torah was formed in 1988, to establish a place in Johnson County to practice a modern American brand of Reform Judaism.  After a few meetings in private homes, the first public worship service was held July 22, 1988, at the former country club building on Indian Creek Drive that was then the interim Jewish Community Center and today houses the Chabad House of Greater Kansas City. After a bit of wandering and fundraising, in 1996, Beth Torah dedicated its permanent synagogue at 6100 W. 127th St.

In a changing world, how can the American Jewish community survive and thrive? Author Bob Mnookin has addressed the challenges that face the American Jewish community and his view on how to support the next generation in a stronger Jewish identity in his book, “The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World,” to be available Nov. 27.
Mnookin has strong roots in the Kansas City Jewish community. The son of I.J. and Marion Mnookin, he grew up attending religious school at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, although he had an attachment with Kehilath Israel Synagogue as well, since his paternal grandparents, Jacob and Dinah Mnookin, were members there. His maternal grandparents, George and Etta Sittenfeld, were also close by. He and his immediate family shared a two-story home with his aunt and uncle Leon and Jean Sittenfeld and their family.

Rabbi Mark H. Levin, founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Torah, holds a firm belief that no religion should have any privileged status in the eyes of the United States government or any jurisdiction within it.
More than 40 other Kansas City-area clergy of various religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam included — agree with Rabbi Levin. He and they signed their names to that effect on a seven-point declaration of principles he wrote this past summer (with editing help from a friend), which he posted on his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Rabbi-Mark-H-Levin-1104355639599380/). He also asked the declaration’s other signatories to disseminate it to their congregations and on social media.

Harvey Kaplan recently returned from a Diplomatic Mission to Berlin and Brussels with AJC, the Global Jewish Advocacy organization. Kaplan, who is a member of AJC’s National Board of Governors and the board of AJC’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, joined a delegation of approximately 50 AJC leaders, led by AJC’s CEO David Harris, to mark the 20th anniversary of AJC’s Berlin Ramer Institute. AJC was the first Jewish organization to engage with the German government following WWII.
In Berlin, the recent delegation met with Chancellor Angela Merkle, U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell, leaders of the major German political parties, other high ranking German officials, and members of the German Jewish community. Shortly after the meeting, elections were held in Bavaria and Chancellor Merkle announced that she will step down as her party’s leader.

Jonathan Fink contends bookstores should display his new nonfiction book in the sports section under “Baseball.” The Jewish author isn’t necessarily right.
Fink’s debut book, “The Baseball Gods are Real: A True Story about Baseball and Spirituality,” definitely comes from his perspective as a baseball fan deluxe. But Fink’s story is just as much about overcoming personal setbacks and experiencing unexpected incidents of spiritual “synchronicity” that, while framed in the context of baseball, give indication a divine source has a hand in the mix.
“My goal was to write a baseball book that had hidden themes and messages that would help people improve their lives,” Fink said.
Fink with his wife of 19 years, formerly Regina “Reggie” Devinki of Kansas City, and their daughter, Kayla, and son, Nate, live in Leawood, Kansas. Fink is founder and president of Satya Investment Management LLC.

“Six Thousand Miles to Home” by Kim Dana Kupperman. Legacy Edition Books, 2018.

This book, written as a novel, is based upon a true story about a Jewish family from Teschen, Poland, who fled their home in hopes of avoiding the Nazis who were making their way into Eastern Europe. The family believes they will be safer in Lwow, but Julius Kohn, the father, is arrested and soon the mother Josefina and her two children, Suzanna and Peter, are sent to a Russian gulag in northern Russia. They suffer in a train composed of boxcars in each of which more than 20 people are riding without food or water. Finally they arrive at the gulag in the middle of nowhere.

The book follows the family as they work for their Russian captors. Peter becomes strong enough he eventually is drafted into the Polish army. Suzanna takes care of a little girl who has no family. Josefina works hard. Finally several months later, they and other prisoners are released and transported out of the Soviet Union. They have no idea where they are going, but it is certainly not back to Poland or Germany. To their surprise, they end up in Iran.

Kupperman describes the experiences and struggles of the Kohn family in exquisite detail. How they survive all these trials and emerge stronger that before is an amazing story. The Jewish community in Iran is welcoming. Finally they are no longer starving, no longer forced to work long hours, and they are able to openly practice their Judaism again. It would spoil the book for potential readers to go into details about the Kohns’ ability to survive. However, there is no doubt that “Six Thousand Miles to Home” is highly recommended and well worth reading.

Andrea Kempf is a retired librarian and award-winning book reviewer who speaks throughout the community on various topics related to books and reading.

REVISITING HISTORY — Larry and Sally Gordon revisited history and reunited with an old friend as part of a recent trip.
The Gordons, along with couples Dan Braum and Rita Myer and Barbara and Steve Stras, recently cruised the Northeast United States and Canada, visiting Newport, Rhode Island, Boston, Portland, Maine, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Quebec City and Montreal. The group spent two days prior to the cruise in lower Manhattan.
A visit to the Statue of Liberty was on the agenda. Sixty-seven years ago, in 1951, a young Sally Pape saw Liberty Enlightening the World for the first time when she emigrated from her native Great Britain with her parents Leonard and Esme Pape and her brother David. The family sailed to the United States aboard the S.S. Mauritania.
Besides seeing Lady Liberty, the Gordons also reunited with Lt. Col. Nadeesh Fernando of the Sri Lanka military. In 2008, under the auspices of the People to People Program, the Gordons sponsored then-Major Fernando and his family as he spent a year at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Fernando gave the group a personal tour of the United Nations where he is temporarily assigned.

A HANUKKAH HOUSE OF YOUR OWN — If you love craft projects and always thought you might want to put together a gingerbread house with a Jewish flavor, you can try this one. This Hanukkah House Kit was in stock at the Costco on Blue Valley Parkway on Nov. 11. A quick Google search shows it is available online at several retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond. That search also produced a YouTube by Anthony and Daniel that shows the prebuilt gingerbread houses have been available since at least 2016. Good luck decorating and don’t forget Hanukkah begins in 17 days!

MISSOURI HOUSE DISTRICT 15 UPDATE — Following the August primary we learned a racist, anti-Semitic Republican had won the Republication primary for the Missouri House District 15. The candidate, Steve West, did not win the general election. The incumbent, Democrat Jon Carpenter, won another term with a vote total of 9,261. West garnered 5,398 votes. (See related story, page 7)

David Harris, CEO of AJC (American Jewish Committee), will visit Kansas City at the end of the month to speak at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence. President Truman recognized the newly created state of Israel in 1948. Harris will be in conversation with Kurt Graham, the Truman Library and Museum’s director, about Truman’s role in Israel’s creation and his continuing legacy today.
“There is no better place in the United States to tell the story of the founding of Israel than the Truman Library,” said Graham, who spoke at the AJC Global Forum in Jerusalem in June on the 70th anniversary of the rebirth of the state of Israel. “Our understandings of Israel’s founding and Truman’s leadership are inexorably tied together, and continue to affect our engagement with the Jewish state today. We are thrilled to welcome David Harris to our institution to share his insights with our ­community.”
The Truman Library and Museum will soon undergo a major renovation, including an expansion of the exhibits detailing Truman’s role in Israel’s founding. The space is slated to reopen in April 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Truman becoming president.

Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy’s head of school search committee recently updated the school’s community on the status of its search.
To begin the process, a head of school survey was sent to HBHA parents, faculty, alumni, board members and upper school students, with the goal of collecting diverse perspectives on qualities needed to be an excellent HBHA head of school. The search committee is now thoroughly reviewing survey results.
“The survey results demonstrate a great appreciation for the quality of HBHA’s academics, from both a general studies and Judaics perspective. Respondents noted satisfaction with the warmth, inclusiveness and family-feeling that permeates HBHA,” said Carol Porter, former HBHA board chair, who co-chairs the head of school search committee along with Pete Levi, former HBHA board member.