Archived Opinion

Rabbinical Association stands in solidarity with Jews of Pittsburgh

We, the rabbis who comprise the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City are heartsick at the tragic loss of life in a Pittsburgh synagogue; a horrific, hateful event that occurred as our fellow Jews were coming together to celebrate Shabbat, and celebrate a baby naming. We mourn this tragedy, and in this moment offer our support for all who grieve.
Whatever action will come in response in the days and weeks to come, today we pray and grieve our loss. As we say in our tradition: May G-d, (and our community) provide comfort to all who mourn, as the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem have been comforted in the past.

The Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City

Why are we talking differently now?

Last week Jewish Federation leaders met in Israel for the annual General Assembly. So why is this GA different from other GAs? Because the theme was “We Need to Talk.” Until now when we dialogued with Israeli leadership it was, “how can we help each other?” Jewish Federations always have been, and I’m glad to state, still are, profound supporters and partners of Israel, helping in whatever way it can.
This conference focused on trying to improve relationships on several issues. Some issues were settlements, the Nation State declaration, asylum and the dominance of the ultra-Orthodox on the personal lives of Israelis.
I have previously voiced in The Chronicle my opinion settlements are not an obstacle to peace. I stated that when proposals were made to substantially vacate settlements, those offers were rejected by Palestinians. On the other matters, we are entitled to voice our opinions while recognizing that we are not part of the Israeli Knesset. To press on these matters is to take the position that most Israelis do not know how to govern themselves.
The most sensitive of these issues concerns the status of the Conservative and Reform movements in Israel. Why is it that one cannot accept the historical and current demographical history of the State of Israel? The State was founded by secular Jews. Most Israelis remain secular. Others originate from Europe or Arab countries and have little, if any, knowledge of Jewish progressive movements. The challenge should continue to be directed at the ultra-Orthodox or have massive numbers of Reform and Conservative Jews make Aliyah, though that’s not likely to happen.
Here’s another thought. Why was there only little attention given to the 70th anniversary of the State? There was an opportunity to celebrate. Despite the hostility of many nations, many wars and continuing acts of terrorism, Israel thrives and contributes technological, medical and  agricultural knowledge to the world while continuing to accept immigrants (37,000 in 2017).
One of the central questions raised was the increasing alienation or indifference of young Jewish Americans, most visible on university campuses, to Israel. That includes Jewish faculty. Birthright Israel is a response to this. Much more needs to be done by us in the USA cooperating with Israelis.
Perhaps my perspective differs from the current leadership of Federations. I had been involved in the rescue and resettlement of Jews since the early 1950s, they were Holocaust survivors, Romanians, Hungarians, Greeks, Russians, Poles and Ethiopians. My experiences began when no country welcomed Jewish refuges (the USA only a limited number). “Next Year in Jerusalem” became “This Year in Jerusalem.”
I identify with the Israeli woman that lost two sons and addressed a GA audience. She declared that they died protecting Israel and the Jewish people. I quote an old United Jewish Appeal slogan, “We Are One.” We must be.

Sol Koenigsberg
Overland Park, Kansas

Be active advocates for Israel

To my Jewish friends, particularly you young adults, who do not appreciate that Israel’s safety and security is important to your own safety and security, and to those who do appreciate this but fail to do anything proactive to help Israel survive and thrive: Wake up! The anti-Semitic demon has escaped the sewers and shadows of America, as it has in Europe, and as it has in the Middle East, and in the United Nations. Very clearly it now has a growing presence on our own college campuses. While it is a beautiful thing that many of our non-Jewish neighbors are appalled at anti-Semitism and would like to see it stop, the demon is nevertheless widespread, and is growing, rampant online and openly expressed in public. Anti-Semitism is clearly on the rise everywhere and by every measure.
So, please reflect on how much more emboldened this evil will become, and how it might affect you and your family if the Jewish State of Israel is destroyed or even weakened or isolated and can no longer be a safe haven for Jews from everywhere. Please, stop for a moment and ask yourself if the standing and safety of Jews in America and elsewhere is tied to Israel’s standing and safety. We in the Jewish world have to be active advocates for Israel, and for a strong relationship between our countries, as best we can in our own personal sphere of influence. We can no longer be complacent or sanguine. We cannot allow the political issues of the day to turn us away from our support for Israel and the Jewish people. If we are not for ourselves, who will be for us? If not now, when, folks?

Victor A. Bergman
Overland Park, Kansas

(Editor’s note: This introduction and “Prayer for the City” was written and offered by founding Congregation Beth Torah member Roshann Parris after Kansas City Mayor Sly James spoke during Yom Kippur morning worship at the Reform congregation in Overland Park.)

Shanah Tovah, fellow congregants. Thirty years ago this year, a small group of us sat in Hal and Carol Sader’s living room to dream a dream of a new congregation, a new community.
These 30 years later, we could hardly imagine this magnificent and peaceful place we share today; we could hardly imagine the impact we as a congregation could have on social justice institutions within our region, where we have together worked to repair the world we live in. And we could only imagine that we would have the privilege of welcoming the mayor of the largest city in our region on this, the holiest day of the Jewish year.
Mr. Mayor, in your honor, we are creating our congregation’s very first prayer for our city, inspired by you. We honor you for all you have done not just for Kansas City, but for and with the mayors of dozens of cities in the region. Indeed, you are a living example that all boats can rise under inspired leadership.
And we honor the hundreds of mayors you’ve served as national chairman as you’ve worked to make our country a place in which we can all — each and every one of us — feel safe … and proud … and respected … and inspired. And so, Mr. Mayor, today, we offer our first “Prayer for the City.” This one’s for you.
Lord, thank you for creating a passion — a fire in the belly of our city’s public servants — so that we can harvest their selflessness as they seek to make for us a better region.
We pray for Mayor James and all those mayors, city council members, county executives and so many others in service to our communities, that they may be guided by both their heads and hearts as they devote themselves passionately to the best interests of our community.
We pray for the remarkable, selfless men and women who put their lives on the line 24 hours a day — the police and firefighters and EMS first-responders (several who are with us this day) — not only in Greater Kansas City, but in the Carolinas and Puerto Rico and Florida and California and in the City of Chicago — each and every day.
They show up to work so that we can go to sleep each night feeling protected and safe — even as their own families go to sleep each night worrying about what morning will bring.
Robert Kennedy Jr. said “Let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one person can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills … Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those acts will be written the history of a generation.”
We pray that in the year ahead, each of us will find a way, just one way of returning the privilege we all have of living in this city, and in this country. That we find a way to give back to something bigger than ourselves, something that inspires us and stirs our souls to say — I can make a difference, I MUST make a difference. I can make my village, my city, my country a better place.
In gratitude for the service of those to our city and our country, we pray, oh Lord, as we say together, Amen.

Prior to this summer, the longest I had ever been away from home was five days. It was Presidents’ Day Weekend 2018, and I spent it in Orlando, Florida, at BBYO’s International Convention. I was never a sleepaway camp kid — being away from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ramat Amoona Camp gave me enough Judaism and plenty of time away from home. Yet, ever since I entered high school, I knew, looming in the back of my head, that the summer after sophomore year most everyone in the various Jewish groups that I belonged to would go to Israel.
When I was 10 years old, I bluntly told my grandparents and parents that I had no interest in ever going to Israel. They mostly shook it off and blamed it on my young ignorance, but I never forgot what I told them. I didn’t understand what could be so special about a Jewish country in the middle of nowhere. It would take me six years to finally find out why everyone loved Israel so much.
By the time sophomore year rolled around, everyone was signing up for Israel trips. My friends from USY and BBYO would start group chats just to find out what trip everyone was signing up for. I went along with it all, but I was terrified of going. I was terrified to fly for over 15 hours just to get to Israel, and terrified to spend time far away from home with people I didn’t know. Despite all this, at the very last second, my parents and twin sister convinced me to sign up for a trip, and before I knew it I was booking a plane ticket.
I signed up for USY Eastern Europe Israel Pilgrimage. I would be spending 40 days of my summer traveling through Poland, the Czech Republic and Israel. In the months leading up to the trip, I did my best not to think about it. I knew a handful of friends from Minnesota on the trip and my twin sister was going as well, but still I’d be living with strangers in strange lands. Things kept creeping up to remind me of my extended vacation: buying a CamelBak water bottle, booking tickets for travel between cities and constant emails from the organizers. Eventually, I kissed my family goodbye, and I boarded the first of nine flights I would take this past summer.
After two days of continuous travel, the group of 34 teenagers I was with landed in Prague, Czech Republic. We spent two days exploring the beautiful city that somehow was preserved through two world wars. We walked through ancient synagogues, the Jewish quarter and saw historic landmarks like the Prague Castle. Then, the trip took a drastic turn. Only two days after settling in, we were headed to our first ghetto from the Holocaust.
Nothing hits you harder than driving through the gates of your first ghetto, except for walking through the gates of your first concentration camp. The Terezin Ghetto was haunting. The city within the walls had held several times its capacity, becoming a hotspot for disease and death. While at Terezin, we walked the streets that Jews suffered in many years ago, and solemnly joined to sing in a cellar that had been converted into a secret synagogue. Our time at the first ghetto concluded with a long walk along a river; the same river that the S.S. soldiers dumped thousands of Jews’ ashes into. No one spoke on the drive back.
For the next week and a half, we traveled through Poland, and visited four different concentration camps. Walking through a gate reading “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work sets you free) was difficult.
In Auschwitz, Birkenau, Treblinka and Majdanek, we saw where many of our collective family members had been murdered not too long ago. As difficult as it was, we all were glad we had made the journey together.
When it came down to the decision to take this trip, I was very, very close to not going. I thought I would hate traveling and dislike being away from home for so long with strangers. Looking back, had I made any other decision, I would have regretted it. I met my best friends. I cried, I laughed and I smiled as I traveled through three countries on two continents. I had the best summer of my life.

Ethan Fine is a high school junior who became a Bar Mitzvah and was confirmed at Congregation B’nai Amoona. He is the son of Jennifer and Kevin Fine of Wildwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and the grandson of Mickey and Samyra Marks of Overland Park, Warren Fine of Chesterfield, Missouri, and the late Marcia Fine.

“The Immortalists” by Chloe Benjamin, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $26 hardcover, January 2018

Chloe Benjamin is a 29-year-old award-winning author who lives in Madison, Wisconsin. She grew up in San Francisco; her mother was the daughter of an Episcopalian minister; her dad was Jewish; her stepmother is Jewish.
Her father’s family history includes grandparents who came through Ellis Island, fleeing Europe and pogroms. She became fascinated by the ties that bind Jews to other Jews.
When I first read about it, there was something intriguing about the theme.
The premise for this family saga is: what if you knew exactly when you were going to die?
The time is 1969, a Lower East Side of New York Jewish family. The four children of the Jewish Gold family pool their resources to visit a gypsy fortune teller whom they are told can say when you will die.
At the time Simon is 7, Klara is 9, Daniel is 11 and Varya is 13.
The four sections of the novel relate the siblings’ lives, each in order of their predicted death. Benjamin says in a publisher’s interview, “When the siblings receive their supposed dates of death, they make decisions based on that knowledge — decisions they might not have made if they’d never visited the fortune teller.”
The Gold siblings each have different orientations toward Judaism, just as they have different orientations toward their prophecies.
Simon is 16 when he leaves home, moves to San Francisco to be part of the LGBTQ movement, and becomes a ballet dancer.
Klara becomes a magician in San Francisco then moves with her husband and child to Las Vegas.
Daniel becomes a chief medical officer at a military entrance processing station.
Varya becomes a biologist researching anti-aging with monkeys.
Benjamin says she hopes the book “offers solace and companionship in navigating life’s uncertainties, as well as the enduring pull of family. To me, the book is not about dying; it’s about living, embracing as fully and fearlessly as possible what time we’re given.”
When the book was published, reviewers called it “a captivating family saga” (The New York Times Book Review), a really compelling plotline (Wall Street Journal), a “dazzling family love story” and “a literary thriller.”
For this reviewer, it was both powerful and captivating, mesmerizing and disturbing.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer, food writer and author.

Feinstein abandoned traditions

The description in The Chronicle of Diane Feinstein’s terrible political ambush of Justice Kavanaugh as Feinstein “taking the lead” is deplorable (Jewish candidates in the 2018 congressional elections: The Senate, Oct. 11).
Peggy Noonan, writing in the Wall Street Journal, expressed a decline in public standards of decorum. She added that a significant number of senators no longer even pretend to have class or imitate fairness (certainly including Feinstein). Insistent rudeness and accusatory tones characterized Feinstein’s and other Democrats’ positions. Holding a key letter for weeks then leaking it at a critical time was a despicable act. Feinstein set up Kavanaugh with no evidence, no witnesses and no fair play. Feinstein abandoned traditions of due process to achieve a political goal, in spite of a complete lack of corroboration.
Would it not be appropriate for The Chronicle to provide political balance in the interest of fair play?

David S. Jacobs, M.D.
Overland Park, Kansas

A friend and I have been engaged in a dialogue concerning Israel for some time. Recently he stated that “settlements are a disastrous thumb in the eye that is horribly counterproductive and will be disastrously costly in the long run, derived from haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Irgun mentality.”
My friend implied that settlement activity is derived from “ultra-Orthodox and Irgun mentality.” Irgun was an extremist pre-Israel group that employed aggressive tactics reacting to British bias toward the Arabs while under the United Nations mandate over Palestine. The Irgun group was disbanded with the creation of the State of Israel. You suggest that the aggressive behavior of ultra-Orthodox settlers is equal to the tactics of the Irgun. They do not use the same offensive actions against the government.  
I acknowledge that settlements pose a problem for many countries including the United States. Most view settlements as illegal. The USA has maintained that they are “an obstacle to peace.” Please note that legal scholars recognized that a country acting in self-defense may seize and occupy territory. U.N. resolution 242 gave Israel the right to administer the territories it won in 1967.
As for being a “thumb in the eye,” former Israeli Prime Ministers Ehud Barack and Ehud Olmert offered to vacate many of the settlements and recognized East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state. These offers were too generous and were rejected. Whose thumb was in whose eye then?
This is an example of an ongoing pattern of rejections by the Palestinians that began in 1948 when the United Nations proposed a two-state solution, one for a Jewish state and the other for Palestinians. A rejection came in the form of war declared by the Palestinians and surrounding Arab countries. The Jews won and declared that they prevailed in its “War of Independence.” The losers referred to their as defeat a “disaster.” (In Arabic this is known as nakba, a term still used.)
During the Israeli War of Independence, the Arab League conquered the Old City of Jerusalem, expelling or killing the inhabitants of the Jewish quarter. Jordan annexed west of the Jordan River that included East Jerusalem and the West Bank. During the period of 1948 and 1967, the Jordanian “occupation” of the territories, 58 synagogues were destroyed, a hotel was built on the Mount of Olives atop a Jewish cemetery and grave stones were used to pave roads and latrines. Jews and Christians were barred from visiting their holy places. During the 1967 Six Day War, Israel literally liberated the Old City of Jerusalem and the West Bank. The holy places of Jerusalem under Israel control are now open to members of all faiths.
Rejections and hostilities toward Israel continued in the form of major conflicts like 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1982 Lebanon War. It should be recalled that after Israel’s remarkable success in the Six-Day War, Israel’s leadership waited for a call from the defeated Arabs to discuss terms. They were met with the infamous “three nos.” No negotiations, no recognition of Israel and no peace. That position was held for 12 years until Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. Egypt was then expelled from the Arab League by its 20 members.
Acts of terrorism continue against Israelis. Thousands of rockets from Gaza have been hurled at southern Israel communities. Rioting persists at the Gaza border. Gazans are urged by Hamas terrorists to engage in “A March of Return,” to break through the border barrier and murder as many Israelis as they can. A new tactic of launching fuel-carrying balloons destroying crops and property has been introduced.
This is all connected to the issue of settlements. I, and many others, maintain that the refusal of Israel’s opponents to accept Israel as a Jewish state is the issue, not the settlements. That explains their refusal to negotiate. Palestinian leaders have stated bluntly that no Jews would be allowed to reside in a Palestinian state. This has already happened with the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Israel had to abandon the Sinai Peninsula including the town of Yamit. The Jewish residents of that desert town submitted that they could accept dual citizenship, Egyptian and Israeli, and remain. The Israeli government had to forcibly remove the Israelis from the town. The same situation occurred when Gaza was evacuated. Gazans under terrorist Hamas rule have rained missiles and mortars on southern Israel. So much for “land for peace.”
Israel is accused of having settlements in the West Bank that would deprive Palestinian Arabs land that could become part of a Palestinian state. Recognizing that position, the Israelis brought compromise positions to the table that were rejected as previously noted.
Israel has been repeatably asked to sacrifice land, settlements, defensive barriers and blockades for peace. What has been asked of the Palestinians? Their leaders have misused them as human shields, taught their children hatred and even honored and paid cash rewards to terrorists and their families.
It is reported that number of Israelis in settlements residing in the West Bank is 400,000. Orthodox settlers number less than a third of that population. There is a total of the 800,000 living in settlements across the 1949 armistice lines. It has been observed that many of the settlers move to the territories for economic reasons as it is much less costly to live there than in other places in Israel. That includes ultra-Orthodox families.
So my friend, I continue to contend the issue of peace in Israel is much larger than settlements. I look forward to continuing a dialogue with you.

Foreign cars, anti-Semitism and our local economy

The other day I counted the percentage of Japanese and Korean cars in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Campus. On a given day, the number I came up with was seven out of 10. I speculate that most Jewish people at the Campus are not aware that the Japanese and Korean car companies boycotted Israel until quite recently (1996) and are still considered to be anti-Israel. Foreign cars now make up over 70 percent of the vehicles sold in the U.S. What constitutes a foreign car? Is it the country of origin for the manufacturer (where the profits end up) or is it where the vehicle is assembled? It may be a surprise that the assembly of a vehicle only accounts for slightly over 10 percent of its value. Dealer profit is another 5 percent. Therefore almost 85 percent of our dollars leave the U.S. for Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy or India.
Have you noticed that the U.S. Postal Service is slowly replacing their fleet with Dodge/Chrysler RAM Vans? How many of us are aware that Chrysler/Jeep/RAM is 100 percent owned by Fiat of Italy? Is it possible our government is not aware of this?
For those who support the mantra “shop local — buy local,” the competing American van, the Ford Transit, is manufactured exclusively in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Ford Claycomo plant where almost 7,500 locals are employed. Claycomo also assembles Ford F150 pickup trucks. That 7,500 figure does not include peripheral workers, which are estimated at four to five times that number. The General Motors Kansas City Kansas Fairfax plant employs approximately 2,500 workers (Chevy Malibu) and is expanding to produce a new Cadillac Crossover (XT4).
While workers at the foreign car plants in several southern states earn poverty wages ($15-$17/hour) and are prohibited from unionization (Republican state governors), Ford and General Motors pay more than three times that amount!
As a side note, Mercedes Benz donates vehicles to be used as taxis in Israel, as a war reparation.
Purchasing Ford or GM cars and trucks made in the Kansas City area, or anywhere in the United States, support our economy and don’t support countries who do not have strong ties to Israel.
Dr. Richard Gilman
Overland Park, Kansas

On Aug. 30, 2018, I received an email from the Acting Majority Floor Leader informing the legislature and staff that Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was expected to call an Extraordinary Session of the Legislature beginning on Sept. 10.
Sept. 10.
Rosh Hashanah.
Reading that email, my heart sank.
For most of us, it is second nature to make plans to be absent from work for two or three days during the High Holidays.
Most of us don’t live or work in Jefferson City. I do. 
I knew I had to do something.
One of the best parts of my work as a legislator comes in the form of opportunities to learn about so many topics, areas of the state, and the people who live here. 
These conversations are important for education, understanding and appreciation of one another.
I immediately emailed the Acting Majority Floor Leader, then sent a letter to Gov. Parson alerting them both of this conflict. My letter included the position Jewish lawmakers and government employees were required to make to either participate in prayer and celebration during this holy time, or to work and be present in Jefferson City.
I likened the sacred nature of the Jewish Holy Days to the Christian celebrations of Easter and Christmas. I assured them should the need arise, I would be standing up to defend their days needed for celebration and prayer. 
It was also painfully obvious that should Special Session extend beyond its expected week (which has happened before), there could again be Special Session during Yom Kippur. (Editor’s note: That scenario did not occur.)
At noon on Monday, Sept. 10, Special Session began.
It began without me.
I spent Rosh Hashanah at Congregation Shaare Emeth with my family, including a beautiful dinner that night. My family has always celebrated the first day of the holiday. The next day, when the gavel fell and opened the second day of Special Session, I was in my seat, proudly representing the people of my district in the State Senate.
As we went about the day’s business, the situation continued to weigh on me. I needed to make a choice: Would I be alone in frustration? Or, would I work to help my colleagues understand and appreciate the significance of what had transpired?
I hope to always work for understanding.
The next day I filed Senate Resolution 16, urging all future governors and legislative leaders to refrain from scheduling Special or Extraordinary Sessions of the Missouri General Assembly on any important religious holidays, including the Jewish High Holy Days.
My resolution stated, in part: “… the decision to begin this extraordinary session during Rosh Hashanah could, unfortunately be viewed as sending a message to the Jewish community throughout this great state that Jewish High Holy Days are not important or deserving of consideration …” and that “… it is probable that the date of Sept. 10, 2018, was chosen without knowledge of the holiday or its significance when this extraordinary session was called.”
I do not believe the governor’s mistake was intentional, but I do know it was avoidable.
I have since spoken with Gov. Parson’s office as well as on the Senate floor to convey the seriousness of the matter. My words were warmly welcomed by many. 
Going forward, I am reminded that even in 2018, people of the Jewish faith still have a lot of work to do to facilitate awareness and understanding of our holidays and traditions.
I hope that by sharing my story with each of you, you, too, will be comfortable heeding Hillel’s words:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I?  If not now, when?” 
Our faith matters.
Our holidays matter.
We matter.
Wishing you a peaceful and healthy New Year.

Jill Schupp is a Missouri state senator, representing part of St. Louis County, and a Democrat.