As the days get shorter and our temperatures grow colder, we journey into winter with its longer periods of darkness and the potential for downward slopes in our emotional and spiritual paths. Hanukkah and the Jewish calendar provide the opportunity to consider our responses to the darkness, including the light we can yet make and find in our world.
In a year as unpredictable as this one, generosity brings people together. Generosity gives everyone the power to make a positive change in the lives of others.
By Michele Chabin/JTA
When the first wave of coronavirus infections reached the American South, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, knew the synagogue’s religious school’s classes would have to move online.
By Barbara Bayer
Contributing Writer
Wow!
That’s the reaction people have when they see the expanded and renovated Jewish Community Center — The J.
By Mike Sherry
Contributing Writer
A winding tale of Jewish geography, which reaches to the East Coast and the South, has snaked to City Hall in Kansas City, Missouri.
As the Jewish community advocate for combating anti-Semitism and pursuing justice representing the Jewish communities in Kansas and Western Missouri, Jewish Community Relations Bureau|AJC knew that Jewish students in the region reported facing anti-Semitism in their schools. However, JCRB|AJC did not know how widespread this experience was, nor what anti-Semitism looked like day-to-day for students.
By Barbara Bayer
Contributing Writer
The pandemic has cancelled a lot of things in 2020, but not the annual Chanukah Art Contest. For the 24th year The Shul-Chabad of Leawood, along with the Jewish Community Center (The J) and The Chronicle will sponsor the contest for students in grades pre-K through eighth grade. The winning entries will be revealed on the first night of Chanukah in the Dec. 10 issue of The Chronicle.
These are tough times. Experts say between the lingering coronavirus pandemic and the toxic political environment, there has been an uptick in both anxiety and depression.
Despite these unusual times, K.I. Synagogue’s 44th Grand Givers, held on Sunday, Oct. 18, was a great success. Co-chairs Drs. Shari and Michael Sokol donned their creative hats and designed a “Grand Givers Like Never Before.” Grand Givers is Kehilath Israel’s largest fun and fund raiser of the year with entertainment, food and prizes.
Faced with an ongoing pandemic, and in possession of hundreds of beautiful Judaica pieces that speak to the history, culture and art that explains and defines Judaism across centuries and around the globe, The Michael Klein Collection at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah is expanding its offering of virtual tours. The tours, which are free of charge, are available both to the public and to private groups and focus on education through the stories that lie behind each piece in the collection.
