Fund formal, serious Jewish learning

I take sincere exception with Mr. Stettner’s vision of the future of Jewish education in Kansas City as published in his email blast of May 24 and reprinted in the Chronicle on May 31. The new venture that the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Federation are joining forces to do is not a valid replacement for serious Jewish learning and study. I am very concerned about the value and quality of formal Jewish learning in our community. The joint programming of the JCC and JFed are informal in nature and devoid of serious textual study.
A life lived Jewishly is not only about the “joy in Judaism.” That would erase thousands of years of engaged daily Jewish living and scholarship in a single pithy phrase. The Torah has been kept alive and keeps us alive only with a community of knowledgeable and committed interpreters — not simply seekers of “joy,” but seekers of an intelligent life, thoughtfully engaged in every moment.
What type of Jewish community are we handing to the coming generations? What actions that we take as a community today — in collaboration — can BEST deliver a vibrant and viable authentic Jewish framework? The answers to that challenging question will not always respond to our immediate, self-gratifying needs. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, cautioned us when he said, “Life is a challenge, not just a satisfaction.” With Rabbi Heschel and our other rabbanim as my teachers, I challenge the “collaborators” to fund formal, serious Jewish learning in our community with the ultimate outcome of a literate Jewish Kansas City wherein we confront our true selves and therefore confront God. “Build for me a sanctuary and there I will dwell (Exodus 25:8),” and there I will meet you and speak with you.”
(Exodus 25:22).

Marla Brockman
Leawood, Kan.

Don’t forget Alan Gross

Alan Gross is my brother and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to The Jewish Chronicle for publishing articles about the terrible situation Alan is in and has been since he was arrested in Cuba in December 2009. (Editor’s note: Gross was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison on charges related to his efforts to connect the island’s small Jewish community to other communities through the Internet.)
I live in Dallas but have friends, Jackie and Sheldon Fleschman, who are from Kansas City and still receive The Chronicle. Every time you post an article about Alan, they cut it out and give it to me. This past time, I asked them to give me the entire paper as I wanted to say thank you for your coverage. It is so important to keep the news of his situation in the public eye in hopes it will help with his release, somehow.
On a more personal note, it really helps Alan to know that people have not forgotten him.
On behalf of Alan and our family, we say, keep up the good work; it is appreciated.

Bonnie Rubinstein
Dallas, Texas