Archived News

“Who is honored? He who honors mankind.” ( Pikei Avot 4:1)
Howard T Jacobson is such a man.
Jacobson’s years of volunteering in the Kansas City community are extensive. Over the years he has volunteered or served on the boards of over 40 organizations. Although he has supported these many organizations with his time and money, there is one organization that holds a special place in his heart: the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City (The J) and its continental affiliate the Jewish Community Center Association of North America.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One family after another hurried through Erin Jones-Avni’s front door, anxious to get their first glimpse of the new arrival — to admire its ornate silver breastplate and touch its satiny mantle.
“People just kept coming, and they’d make a beeline for the Torah,” she told JTA from her home in Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital and largest city. “They were overcome with emotion, to show it to their children, to take their picture with it.”
All were members of the country’s first egalitarian minyan, which was founded earlier this year at the home of Gabriela Alonso and her husband, Rabbi Julian Vainstein.

This summer has been hot and Israelis Amit Rabin and Ariel Cowan have taken notice. They’re working at J Camp at the Jewish Community Center (The J) and spending most of their day outdoors. Cowan said Israel is hot, but the humidity here makes it feel much hotter. “I didn’t plan to sweat so much,” said Cowan with a laugh.
Rabin and Cowan, 21 and 20 years old respectively, were brought to Kansas City through the shlichim program. Each year The Jewish Agency for Israel chooses about 1,500 shlichim, or emissaries, from more than 10,000 applicants. These shlichim are placed at Jewish organizations around the world to strengthen community members’ Jewish identities and provide a personal connection to Israel through education about the country.

Each year, outstanding Kansas City Jewish classroom educators are nominated for the honor of being the Grinspoon Educator of the Year. This award recognizes excellence in teaching Hebrew and Jewish Studies.
This year’s winner is Zohar Flacks, director of Jewish life at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. Flacks will be presented with the award at Jewish Federation’s Annual Meeting on Sept. 5 at the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center. The award comes with $2,000 from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and a local anonymous donor to give educators additional access to professional development so they can continue to enhance their work in the field.

MENORAH’S NEW RITA BLITT GALLERY — Menorah Medical Center hosted an artist’s reception at the hospital last week to show off a donation of art from renowned artist Rita Blitt. The event showcased the new gallery at the hospital featuring 31 of the artist’s original works.
“The opening of the gallery within our hospital allows patients and guests to get away from the stress of being in a hospital and gives them the opportunity to see the beauty in the incredible pieces that Rita has created,” Menorah Medical Center CEO Charles Laird said. “We are honored to have her work in the hospital to help with the healing process for patients and family members.”
He also noted that the hospital, established in 1931, “offers world-class health care from our oncology services to neurology, orthopedics, women’s services, weight loss surgery and more.”
“We’re now happy to have a world-renowned artist as a focal point in one of our busiest areas of the hospital for the enjoyment of our patients, family members, guests, employees and physicians,” Laird said. “Conversation around art is a part of the healing process, and Rita’s work is now a part of that process at Menorah Medical Center.”
Blitt is an internationally renowned, award-wining painter, sculptor and filmmaker whose words “Kindness is contagious. Catch it!” have inspired people all over the world. The daughter of Dorothy and Herman Copaken, she was the first baby born at Menorah, then known as Jewish Memorial Hospital, at its original location on Rockhill Road in Kansas City, Missouri.
Blitt’s work celebrates love of nature, music, dance and the spontaneous flow of movement captured in the drawn gesture. Her deeply felt drawn lines have become paintings up to 33 feet wide, sculptures up to 60 feet tall and the inspirations for her films. When making her lines, she feels as though she is “dancing on paper.”
In late 2017, the Rita Blitt Gallery and Sculpture Garden opened at Mulvane Museum on the Washburn University campus in Topeka, Kansas. This is the home of the Rita Blitt Legacy Collection of drawings, paintings, sculpture and film.
The art is displayed on the lower level of the hospital near the Breast Center at Entry B.

BROADWAY DELI GETS ­FORWARD MENTION — Last week (July 11), The Forward published an article “The Jewish Deli Revival Is In Full Swing,” saying “a new day of national Jewish delis has dawned.” Our new local deli only gets one line and a photo, but that’s what other delis in Denver, Chicago, Cleveland and as far away as Tokyo also get. I’m not a restaurant reviewer, but I give Broadway Deli five stars. I particularly enjoyed the matzah ball soup! To read the whole story, go to forward.com and search Jewish deli revival.

‘PLASTIC-BAG’ LAW IN ISRAEL SLASHED BAG WASTE IN 2017 (JNS) — The Environmental Protection Ministry lauded the success of a “plastic bag law” that has led to a drastic drop in the use of plastic grocery bags by Israeli consumers.
A law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017, which required supermarkets to charge customers 10 agurot (2.8 cents) per plastic bag. Consumers were encouraged to buy large, multi-use bags for shopping, which were also to be made available at grocery stores, and thereby avoid paying the small additional cost.
Officials said the new regulation led to an 80 percent drop in the use of single-use grocery bags and saved more than 7,091 tons of non-recyclable plastic in just one year. Plastic-bag usage accounted for approximately 7 percent of Israeli waste prior to the legislation, according to the ministry.

JEWISH LIFE ADLER-CAPLIN-CLAYMAN TWINNING BAT MITZVAH STORY UPDATE — In this year’s annual Bar and Bat Mitzvah Jewish Life magazine, we reported the story of Victoria Caplin, a young girl from London, England, who participated in a Yad Vashem B’nai Mitzvah twinning program and was matched with Victoria Adler. The program matches children who are celebrating their B’nai Mitzvah with children who perished in the Holocaust before they reached that age. Though having their own B’nai Mitzvah was robbed from those children, this is one small way to honor their memories.
Adler’s parents survived the Holocaust and settled in Kansas City, where her father eventually owned Adler’s Kosher Meat, a butcher shop in Waldo. Erika Adler Clayman, Victoria Adler’s sister, was born several years after Victoria died.
Coincidentally, the Bat Mitzvah twins had the same first name. While Victoria Caplin was studying for her Bat Mitzvah, they discovered that Victoria Adler had family living in Kansas City, and they became friendly. Earlier this summer Victoria Caplin’s parents were visiting the U.S., and Clayman decided to go to Washington, D.C., and meet her new friends in person for the first time.
“We had a wonderful time and I must say that we were all so excited to get together,” Clayman said. “The anticipation and excitement grew by the minute as time was getting closer to the time of our prescheduled meeting. They were charming, lovely and very compassionate people and so interested in our Jewish community and our traditions in KC as Jackie compared it to London.”
Clayman went on to say, “It really was a pleasure to meet them. It seemed like meeting long-lost family and it really was quite emotional. I wish I could put it in words that captured our get-together.”

 Last week a group of AJC leaders in Washington, D.C., discussed a range of Middle East and transatlantic issues in a private meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, expressing the organization’s appreciation of efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to confront Iranian aggression and assure Israel’s security and its fair treatment in international forums.
AJC has focused policy research and advocacy for more than two decades on the Iranian threat to regional and global peace and opposed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as an insufficient brake on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and a missed opportunity to roll back the regime’s ballistic missile development and support for subversion and terror.
Joining AJC CEO David Harris and AJC Board President John Shapiro in the State Department meeting were AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy Jason Isaacson and AJC Kansas City Regional Director Marvin Szneler. During his years in the House, representing the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas from 2011 to 2017, Secretary Pompeo was in regular touch with AJC Kansas City, including twice speaking with the JCRB|AJC board of directors in Overland Park.
“The administration has a clear-eyed view of Iran’s malignant intentions, and we applaud its comprehensive approach to applying pressure politically, strategically and economically to induce a recalculation and policy change by Tehran,” Harris said. “We hope that America’s allies and strategic partners, cognizant of the threat, will join in this vital effort.”

Village Shalom will officially break ground on its strategic campus expansion on Monday, July 16. This is the organization’s first major construction since opening in 2000, and the $54 million project will nearly double the footprint of the south Overland Park Continuing Care Retirement Community.
“We are thrilled to have reached this milestone,” said Karen Glickstein, chairman of the Village Shalom board of directors. “Village Shalom has a long-standing reputation for high quality care. The expansion will allow us to serve more residents, a true benefit to the community. The expanded facility will offer new services, additional amenities and an innovative approach to continuing-care — all areas in which the board and Village Shalom staff take great pride.”

The Torah teaches at the very beginning that it is not good for man/woman to be alone, isolated. For a decade, members of the Jewish community have lived out this teaching by giving their time and treasure to visit people in area hospitals and elder care centers through the Jewish Family Services Chaplaincy Program. Under the leadership of Community Chaplain Rabbi Jonathan Rudnick, these spiritual care volunteers have dedicated hours to performing the mitzvah of bikur holim — visiting and extending aid to the sick and those in need. They play a vital role within the Chaplaincy Program’s overall goal of helping release the spiritual strength of the individual to facilitate the healing process. It’s all about connecting with the person in need and helping them connect with spiritual care resources, meeting them at their point of need.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — For five Kansas City Jewish families on safari in southern Africa, bolting on a few days in this sparking port city was an afterthought.
After living with the lions, giraffes, elephants and more exotic birdlife than can be imagined, they stopped here for a bit of R&R before tackling the 18-hour flight back to the United States.

THEATRE IN THE PARK — Several members of the Jewish community will be performing in the last three shows of Theatre in the Park’s 2018 season. Ray Zarr and Ruth Baum Bigus are in “Into the Woods,” one of Stephen Sondheim’s most popular works. The musical opens July 6 and continues with a total of seven performance concluding on July 14.
Paris Naster plays Wednesday in TTIP’s “The Adams Family.” It also will be performed seven times beginning July 20 and concluding July 28.
McKenna Lewis is an athlete in Disney’s “High School Musical 1 & 2,” the final show of Theatre in the Park’s outdoor season, which premiers Aug. 3 and concludes Aug. 11.
Also, I missed the opportunity to point out Carolyn Braverman was the choreographer for “South Pacific,” which closed last weekend. I’m told she did a fabulous job, as usual!
Theatre in the Park is located inside Shawnee Mission Park at 7710 Renner Road. For ticket and parking information visit theaterinthepark.org.

PRIMARY ELECTIONS ARE AROUND THE CORNER — Primaries in Kansas and Missouri will be held Aug. 7, just a little more than four weeks from today. July 11 is the registration deadline in Jackson County, Missouri. There is no advanced voting on the Missouri side of the state line.
If you plan to vote in Kansas here’s some things you need to know:
July 17 — Last day to register to vote
July 18 — Advance voting by mail begins
July 23 — Advance voting in person begins at the Blue Valley Hilltop Campus (7700 143rd Street)
Aug. 7 — Vote at your regular polling place

JVS BACK-TO-SCHOOL DRIVE — JVS was established in 1949 to assist Holocaust survivors, refugees and displaced persons build new lives in this country. Since 2004, JVS has been resettling refugees in Kansas City, Missouri, and resettles nearly 500 refugees every year.
Right now JVS, the largest resettlement agency in the Kansas City Metro area, is in the process of preparing more than 230 students for the upcoming school year. The students are refugees or immigrants JVS is currently working with and hail from a variety of countries including Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Sudan.
There’s two ways you can help; all donations must be collected by Monday, July 23:
Purchase needed items and bring to JVS. Those items include: new backpacks; supply box/pencil pouch; scissors; rulers with inches and metrics; No.2 pencils; pink erasers; highlighters; 24-count boxes of crayons; boxes of colored pencils; boxes of pens (blue, black or red); washable markers; glue sticks or 8 oz. bottles of washable glue; pocket folders; wide rule or college rule spiral notebooks/loose leaf paper; polos (white, navy or light blue — all sizes; khaki pants/khaki skirts — size 5-12; tights (navy or black); socks.
Donate online. Suggested gift: $60 for full backpack or $30 for uniform. Visit jvskc.org/give to donate; note Back-to-School in comments box.
For questions or more information, email Morgan Holloway at or call 816-471-2808.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KC YOUTH PILGRIMAGE TO ISRAEL OF 1968 — Jeff Levine, a member of the 1968 KC Youth Pilgrimage to Israel (can anyone tell me if that was the first one?), is looking for photos, memorabilia or other information about the pilgrimage. If you can share anything, contact .

LOST DVD — Natalie Cohen and Sybil Kaplan are looking for a DVD of the February 1995 Kehilath Israel production of “Your People Are Mine,” the pop musical on the Book of Ruth. If you can make a copy or send the original to Sybil in a padded envelope at POB635, Jerusalem, Israel, it will be greatly appreciated.

STILL MISSING NAMES IN PHOTO — In the June 14 issue we published a photo of the Montefiores Club from around 1915 or 1916. The first name of a Mr. Larkin is missing. Last week we found out one of the young men was misidentified. The man called Jeff Silberg is actually Max Silberg. If anyone knows Mr. Larkin’s first name, email me at .