Innovation, education, collaboration … three topics of interest that Rabbi Yitz Greenberg discussed when he visited Kehilath Israel Synagogue under the auspices of the Caviar Family Jewish Scholar Weekend. In collaboration with the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Federation, Rabbi Greenberg led a leadership workshop that Sunday morning for approximately 75 people to discuss pertinent needs and challenges for “a changing Jewish world.” During one part of Rabbi Greenberg’s initial comments, an aside really, he referenced the stigma and pain of someone living in an abusive relationship. Most participants missed this, but I was grateful for his public recognition of an existing problem our Jewish community began to recognize in the past decade.

Last summer when I sent letters to area clergy regarding the grant SAFEHOME received from the Flo Harris Foundation concerning outreach in the Jewish community on domestic violence, the positive response overwhelmed me. Seven rabbis contacted me immediately that they would help in any way if a Jewish client wanted rabbinic counseling, kosher food or some other service they could provide. Four congregations scheduled SAFEHOME’s involvement in some way: Kehliath Israel Synagogue, The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, Congregation Beth Shalom and Plaza Chabad’s Jewish Women’s Circle. All the congregations, in addition to the Jewish Community Campus, allowed placement of the Jewish emergency cards. SAFEHOME collaborated recently with Jewish Family Services when our agency education and prevention advocate presented a workshop to JFS’ counselors, therapists and case managers regarding assessing and identification of domestic abuse. Just like someone who considers suicide, there are words victims speak, hoping a knowledgeable, sensitive person will ask a question that gives permission to share her story, knowing the listener will believe her without judgment.

We live in a unique Jewish community that successfully and fortunately collaborates on educational and social justice issues. In order to succeed, we must recognize and face the challenges that arise. We celebrate rebirth with Tu b’Shevat, survival with Purim, and look forward to celebrating freedom at the seder on Erev Pesach. Seder means order; however for one in four women, order is not in their lives due to some form of domestic abuse: emotional, psychological, sexual, financial or physical. As you read the Haggadah this year about our ancestors leaving Egypt and gaining freedom, remember there are women among us who experience their own personal struggle in the form of an abusive significant other. SAFEHOME offers help; it’s free, confidential, empowering, and available 24/7. The number is 913-262-2868.

Chag S’meach!

Susan Lebovitz, CVM, is the volunteer manager and Jewish outreach coordinator at SAFEHOME, Johnson County’s only comprehensive provider of services to victims of domestic violence and partner abuse; the Flo Harris Foundation funds the Jewish Outreach Program.

More about Ed Koch

As a follow up to the death of New York Mayor Ed Koch that you covered in your Feb. 7 issue, we need to remind the K.C. Jewish community of his K.C. connection and of the close friendship he and own Mayor Dick Berkley enjoyed.

In the winter of 1987, there was a nationwide gathering in Washington, D.C., of supporters and activists of the Soviet Jewry movement. Over 100,000 mostly Jewish persons came by plane, auto, busses and trains and gathered on the Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol Building. I was fortunate to be on the planeload of over 100 from K.C. Upon arrival, we were met by Mayor Berkley and Kansas Congressman Dan Glickman.

Later during the lengthy program, Mayor Berkley, as chairman of the U.S. Association of Mayors, was scheduled to speak. When it was his turn, he said into the microphone for all to hear, “I’m turning my time over to my good friend, the mayor of New York City, Ed Koch,” who then delivered an impassioned speech about freedom for Soviet Jews.

Most of us in attendance thought that it was a big gesture for our honored mayor to have relinquished his time over to Mayor Koch. It was not surprising, since Dick Berkley’s 12 years as councilman and mayor were filled with numerous incidents of modesty and decency.

M.J. Rosenbloom

Prairie Village, Kan.

I am walking and thinking about my next step — passport control. I look up and from another hallway in the Tel Aviv airport, I can’t believe what I am seeing.

“Tobi?” I say, and then I see her husband, Rabbi Daniel Horwitz, former senior rabbi at Congregation Ohev Sholom who now lives in Texas. Tobi Cooper and Rabbi Danny have flown to Israel to visit their youngest who is taking a gap year.

After catching up, retrieving our luggage, and saying goodbye, I head to native Kansas Citian Marla Shalinsky Stein’s home in Jerusalem. Marla and I have been friends since birth. I spend time with her, her husband Gideon, and their three children whenever I’m in Israel. (If you ever need a tour guide, please call Marla! She’s certified with the State of Israel and she’s excellent!)

The next morning, Marla and Gideon give me directions to Yad L’Kashish, or Lifeline for the Old (literally, “hand to old”). I take the new light rail train and disembark close to Jerusalem’s old city.

At Yad L’Kashish, artists teach the older citizens how to make works of art using metal, ceramics, silk and other materials. The items are then sold in the gift shop. These older citizens receive a paycheck, hot meal, and a free bus pass to get to work and around town.

After the inspirational tour, I head to the gift shop. I look up.

“Cantor Barash?” Cantor David Barash used to be the hazzan at Beth Shalom! In the middle of the gift shop, I talk with him and his wife, and realize we have mutual friends whom we will be seeing in Israel.

Next stop: The Roswell Seminar, coordinated by native Kansas Citian Rabbi Steve Burnstein, director of the Saltz Center of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Sixteen of us from seven countries gather for a week to learn about social justice programs in Israel. (I highly recommend this seminar or any of the programs Rabbi Steve leads!)

On one of those days, I meet my New Jersey cousin, Tammy Rubin Abramowitz, for a 90-minute break at Nachalat Binyamin, an outdoor art fair in Tel Aviv. We eat falafel and then admire the hand-made work. I realize I need to get back to the hotel for my next program, but my eye catches one of the last booths.

The artist has made wire figures in action. I have to buy one. Do I buy the girl flying a kite or the woman walking her three dogs? As I’m making a decision, Tammy says, “Sheila, there are some people behind you who want to take a look.” I turn around. I gasp. The other woman gasps. We give each other a big hug. It’s Limor Katz-Evans who used to live in Kansas City and recently moved back to her native Israel!

Limor tells me she lives about an hour from Tel Aviv. She says it’s her first day to get out after resettling the family and setting up her business (her pomegranate shirt is my favorite!).

I’ve previously experienced these small miracles. I know many people have. However, it feels as if it happens more often in Israel than anywhere else.

How is that I see Tobi, Rabbi Danny, and Cantor Barash at the same locations I happen to be without even planning it?

How is it that out of all the booths, of all the places in Israel Limor or I could be, out of all the days Limor decides to take time for herself, we see each other at this last booth on this particular side street, at a time when I only have 10 minutes to get back to my next program?

The artist says she herself played a part in this surprise reunion.

I say, “Baruch Hashem.”

Sheila Rubin Sonnenschein is a freelance writer and mother of four. She volunteers in the Jewish community and in the community-at-large. She is currently writing a book for children and adults about making challah. She bought the girl with the kite.

Answering a challenge to Jewish law on abortion

How is it that Jewish scholars have studied Exodus 21:22-23 for three-and-a-half millennia and gotten abortion wrong? According to Shmuel Wolkenfeld in your Feb. 14 issue, they’ve fundamentally misunderstood the Hebrew. Therefore, he implies, Jewish law should right itself — or Jews should disregard Jewish law — and adopt his Christian stance of opposing abortion in all cases, even when the life of the mother is at stake, even when the fetus is the result of rape. I’ll grant Mr. Wolkenfeld that language can be ambiguous. And yes, experts can get meaning wrong, sometimes with far-reaching implications. (Consider, for example, the Greek mis-translation of the Hebrew word, “almah” — young maiden — as “virgin.”) Ambiguously worded or not, what counts most is the iron-clad consensus reigning among faithful Jews that our scholars have gotten right the meaning of Exodus 21, linguistically, legally and morally.

Rabbi H. Scott White
Congregation Ohev Sholom

Words of wisdom

I was very proud to see you had chosen the prophetic words of my cousin, the late Seymour Fox, in the Feb. 21 issue of the Jewish Chronicle. (“Education that is essentially pareve — that’s neutral and doesn’t take a strong stand — has little chance of succeeding. … All effective education has at its foundation a distinct and well-considered vision.”) Seymour born in Chicago, had a strong Kansas City connection to the Lesky, Stolowy and Planzer families. He visited his cousins and kept in contact with us until his untimely death at age 67 on July 10, 2006.

Seymour had a Ph.D. in education, was an ordained rabbi and author. He was a Jewish educator and a builder of institutions. After a short term as a professor at the School of Education at Hebrew University, he remained in Israel to head the School of Education for 14 years. From 1954-1966 he took charge of the Ramah summer camps, bringing brilliant Jewish speakers and scholars to enhance the commitment to Judaism and leadership to thousands of campers. In 1960 he established the Research Institute for Innovation and the Melton Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora.

Seymour’s prolific life as an educator and innovator is too long to print. His importance in Israeli and American Jewish education and philosophy and his influence upon the many graduates who hold positions in Jewish education throughout the world, is a tribute to his life.

Janet Price
Overland Park, Kan.

A little clarification regarding tattoos and Jews

The Feb. 21 edition included a Jewish celebrity news story about Drew Barrymore having her tattoos removed “so that she can be buried in a Jewish cemetery.” I encourage you to write an article about this topic to clarify the misconception about Judaism and tattoos.

I am not in favor of tattoos and agree with Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser, “What would you gain by having a permanent tattoo placed on your body? It will not make you a better person. If you imagine that it would make you feel better about yourself, you may have issues about your self-image that no tattoo will solve. It’s worth asking tough questions like these before making a choice as a young person that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.” However, I would like to correct the misinformation that was perpetuated in the Jewish Celebrity Roundup in the 2/12/13 issue of the Chronicle from a Star magazine report regarding Drew Barrymore removing her tattoos. My research from the New York Times, myjewishlearning.com, chabad.org, judaism.about.com, and thejc.com indicates that while Jewish practice rejects tattoos as idolatrous, violating the body, or reminiscent of forced tattooing of Holocaust victims, there is little basis for a tattoo preventing someone from being buried in a Jewish cemetery.

“The eight rabbinical scholars interviewed for this article, from institutions like the Jewish Theological Seminary and Yeshiva University, said it’s an urban legend, most likely started because a specific cemetery had a policy against tattoos.” (Kate Togovnick, July 17, 2008) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/fashion/17SKIN.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

“But, however distasteful we may find the practice there is no basis for restricting burial to Jews who violate this prohibition or even limiting their participation in synagogue ritual.” Rabbi Alan B. Lucas is Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Roslyn Heights, New York, reprinted online with permission of the Rabbinical Assembly. (http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ethics/Our_Bodies/Adorning_the_Body/Tattoos.shtml)

“The Torah1 forbids us from tattooing our bodies. Nonetheless, one who has had tattoos can still bury in a Jewish cemetery. That said, every Jewish burial society has the right to enact its own criteria for who may and may not be buried in their plot.... This practice by certain burial societies led to the common misconception that this ban was an inherent part of Jewish law.” (Chani Benjaminson, co-director of Chabad of the South Coast and member of the editorial staff of chabad.org) http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/533444/jewish/Can-a-person-with-a-tattoo-be-buried-in-a-Jewish-cemetery.htm

“I do not know of any rabbi or Jewish cemetery that would refuse to bury a Jew because their body had a tattoo. That would be a terrible violation of the Jewish principle of Kavod Ha-Meit, giving honor to the dead.” Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser, http://judaism.about.com/od/conversi2/f/tatoos_burial.htm

“There were certain Jewish cemeteries which instituted their own bans, in order to discourage people from having tattoos, but there isn’t actually a halachic prohibition against burying people with tattoos.” Rabbi Yisroel Lew, Bloomsbury Chabad House in London http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/102542/jewish-burial-hope-has-film-star-drew-barrymore-seeking-tattoo-removal.

Alice J. Capson
Overland Park, Kan.

Made-up storytelling

Letter-writer Herbert Barger deplores “lies” in “Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother,” perhaps forgetting a novel is made-up storytelling. Not invented, however, are verifiable facts forming the basis for my historical fiction, start to finish. I use the voice of slave Sally Hemings, who was three-fourths white and the look-alike half-sister of Thomas Jefferson’s late wife.

Support for my story of Thomas and Sally rises best from the Research Committee report of the Monticello-based Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 2000: “It is very unlikely that Randolph Jefferson or any Jefferson other than Thomas Jefferson was the father of her children.”

Barger’s charge that writers aim “to degrade Mr. Jefferson” suggests sensitiveness over race. Rather than diminish Jefferson, reports of his pursuit of happiness in a loyal 38-year relationship with Sally tend to dignify him. That’s also the view of historians Winthrop Jordan (“White Over Black,” 1968) and Fawn Brodie (“Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History,” 1974), who wrote without benefit of substantiating DNA ties. Jordan credited Sally with relieving Thomas’s “high tension concerning women and Negroes.”

My Thomas/Sally love story reminds us that ours has been a mixed-race nation from its founding. Barger seems unready to accept that feature of our heritage, unlike our mutual hero, Thomas Jefferson, who showed no guilt over the affair and was, in his own words, “not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead.”

Norm Ledgin
Stanley, Kan.

Friend a person in need

Recent articles about the musical “Almost Normal” presented by the Jewish Community Center reminded me just how important it is to help people with mental illness.

Twenty-four years ago the Johnson County Mental Health Association started a program called Compeer. A compeer is a person of equal status or rank, a comrade, companion or an associate. This was a very appropriate choice to name this program.

I chaired the Compeer program along with Angie Deberry. One of the first things I did was ask two women who were kind, warm and giving — Charlene Pollack and Elinor Friedman — to connect with two women who suffered from severe mental illness. As compeers, Charlene and Elinor would be their friends.

Charlene’s friend came from a large family. She and her brothers and sisters suffered from schizophrenia. She was an intelligent, proud lady. She had been married to an alcoholic, and on her own raised two children while battling manic-depression. She and Charlene established a warm relationship and appeared on radio and television programs discussing mental illness. Charlene visited her home and met her family. They remained close friends for nine years, until Charleen’s compeer died.

Elinor’s compeer was in and out of mental hospitals and nursing homes. She tried to earn a living by taking care of children in her home. Her own three children were ashamed of their mother’s illness and only one son kept in contact with her.

For the last 24 years, Elinor visited her compeer at nursing homes and hospitals, kept in contact with her on the telephone and purchased things she needed as well as birthday and Christmas gifts. Elinor kept in touch with her compeer’s social worker and son and made sure the woman was clothed and comfortable.

Elinor was honored as Compeer of the Month by the MHA in April 1992. Her interest in Compeer was a desire to “provide a friendship for a person in need.” Just recently Elinor called me to tell me her friend had died and she felt a great sadness and loss. Her friend’s final words to her were, “God was watching over me when he sent you to me.”

The Compeer program has been phased out. It was a wonderful program that established beautiful friendships for both the volunteers and their friends.

Janet Price
Overland Park, Kan.

An story worth hearing

On Monday, Feb. 18, I had the pleasure of hearing Shlicha Ophir Hacohen tell her family’s history. In an intimate setting, the audience heard how several generations of her family reflect the long road that culminated in the establishment and success of the State of Israel.

Among her ancestors Ophir counts pioneers who arrived to Palestine in the mid 1800s. Others were Holocaust survivors who fought in the War of Independence and the ’67 War. The roots of this Israeli woman are intricately linked with modern Israel.

Ophir Hacohen will have two more presentations from 7 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 25 and March 4 at Congregation Beth Shalom. On Feb. 25, she will explore the theme of strong Israeli women in the armed forces, culture, politics and Israeli society as a whole. On March 4, Ophir will address the current campaign to de-legitimize Israel on U.S. campuses.

To those interested I can promise two evenings rich in information and discussion.

Eduard de Garay
Overland Park, Kan.

Novel’s historical authenticity disputed

Regarding the Feb 7 article about Norm Ledgin’s book, “Sally of Monticello, Founding Mother,” Ledgin said he had done great research regarding the rumored Jefferson/Hemings relationship. He makes statements like, “it has been a known fact that Jefferson and Hemings had an ongoing relationship.” What proof does Ledgin have? The historical “novel,” written from Sally’s standpoint, states that it was “a real love affair.”

Again, what is Ledgin’s source of proof? DNA proved there was no match of Jefferson and Tom Woodson DNA, thus shooting down James Callender’s assertion that Woodson was Jefferson’s son. Where does he get information that Sally had eight children fathered by Jefferson? Professor Annette Gordon-Reed lied in her latest book and claimed that Thomas Jefferson fathered seven of Sally’s children (no proof whatsoever that Tom Woodson was a child of Sally Hemings). Ledgin relies very heavily on the statements made in the Pike County, Ohio, newspaper by an abolitionist reporter and Madison Hemings. This article is riddled with untruths such as his false claim that he was named for James Madison by Dolly Madison upon the occasion of her January 19, 1805, visit to Monticello. This visit never occurred and the Madisons never visited Virginia from Washington during winter. If this was just one of several lies, why are we to trust anything else from this article which was accepted as TRUTH by Monticello?

See, “Anatomy of a Scandal, Thomas Jefferson and the Sally Story,” regarding rumor that Sally and Martha Jefferson were half-sisters, again there is NO proof. Ledgin pretends to have the answers concerning her ability to “take care of this man, her brother” (Thomas Jefferson). Again Ledgin doesn’t do his research or he would have found that Sally did not have any qualifications to even look after Maria according to Mrs. Adams and she was so ill suited that the ship captain wanted to return her back home. To learn more about the DNA Study go to www.tjheritage.org. Thirteen top scholars report their findings in the Scholars Report listed there with NO PROOF of such a false relationship. See, “Jeffersonian Legacies (page 280) for details for all of this rush by Monticello to degrade Jefferson. I assisted Dr. E.A. Foster with the Jefferson-Hemings DNA study and can state that Foster knew that Thomas Jefferson had a younger brother, Randolph, but Foster refused to mention this information to Nature Journal.  

Herbert Barger
Founder, Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society
Jefferson Family Researcher
www.tjheritage.org
www.jeffersondnastudy.com

Abortion not permitted in Torah

I appreciate the compassionate spirit in Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff’s Torah drash in the Jan. 31 issue of The Chronicle, but I must disagree. He concludes that the Torah permits abortion. The clear sense of the Hebrew text says emphatically that it does not.

Rabbi Nemitoff quotes Exodus 21:22-23, and adds an explanatory comment — “When men fight and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other misfortune follows, the one responsible shall be fined … the payment to be based on the judge’s reckoning. But if other misfortune follows (such as the death of the woman), the penalty shall be life for life...”

The issue I take is that the Hebrew does NOT say “miscarriage” but rather “her son depart.” That is, the clear sense of the passage is, “If her son or daughter is prematurely born, but no further injury takes place (to the child or  the mother) then the one responsible shall be fined… But if further injury (such as the death of the mother or child) then there is the penalty of life for life…”

First, the Hebrew there is v’yats-oo y’la-de-ha, literally, “her son exit.” Yeled always means son, child. If the Torah meant to say that there was just an accident to tissue, this word would not have been used.

• Keil and Delitzsch: Yeled only denotes a child, [written in 1866]

• http://morfix.mako.co.il/ Yeled son, boy ; child

• BDB lexicon Yeled child, son, boy, youth

Second, the word for injury is ason, rendered “tragedy, disaster” by Morfix. This means a death.

Third, the omission of lah, to her, as in a-son lah, “injury to her,” means the injury is not just to the mother.

A literal/contextual reading would be, “If men strive, and a pregnant woman is injured, and her child exit but there is no tragedy, the culprit shall be fined as the husband and judges set.  But if there is a tragedy, then you shall set life for life…”

So Torah justice is that the fatal injury, a-son to a yeled son, boy; child; be viewed as a criminal offense.

Shmuel Wolkenfeld
Overland Park, Kan.

Bad choice

Showing the late Art Modell hugging Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis in a 2001 photograph might prove to be a bad choice since the jury is still out as to whether or not Lewis committed murder.

For your readers who may not be familiar with the background: Following a Super Bowl party in Atlanta on Jan. 31, 2000, a fight broke out between Ray Lewis and his companions and another group of people, resulting in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Lewis and two companions, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were questioned by Atlanta police, and 11 days later the three men were indicted on murder and aggravated assault charges. The white suit Lewis was wearing the night of the killings has never been found.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard alleged that the bloodstained suit was dumped in a garbage bin outside a fast food restaurant. Lewis’ attorneys negotiated a plea agreement with the Fulton County District Attorney, where the murder charges against Lewis were dismissed in exchange for his testimony against Oakley and Sweeting, and his guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice.  Lewis admitted that he gave a misleading statement to police on the morning after the killings.

Superior Court Judge Alice D. Bonner sentenced Lewis to 12 months probation, the maximum sentence for a first-time offender; and he was fined $250,000 by the NFL, which was believed to be the highest fine levied against an NFL player for an infraction not involving substance abuse.  Under the terms of the sentence, Lewis could not use drugs or alcohol during the duration of the probation.

Oakley and Sweeting were acquitted of the charges in June 2000.  No other suspects have ever been arrested for the crime.

On April 29, 2004, Lewis reached a settlement with 4-year-old India Lollar, born months after the death of her father Richard, pre-empting a scheduled civil proceeding. Lewis also reached an undisclosed settlement with Baker’s family.

Today Lewis is being accused of using a performance enhancement drug (a deer-antler spray) that is banned by the NFL. In addition, Reginald Oakley, who was involved in the incident but acquitted, has written a “tell all” book called “Memories of Murder” which is scheduled to be released this summer.

Marvin Fremerman
Springfield, Mo.

As many of your readers know, Michael Oren, Israeli ambassador to the United States, spoke at the Jewish Community Campus on Jan. 28 as a guest of Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee. He gave a factual and informative account of what is happening in Israel today. He touched upon the many serious threats facing Israel today from her neighbors as well as the near miraculous events that have propelled Israel from the day of its birth in May 1948 to the powerhouse that it is today, both economically and militarily, in spite of the uncertainties that have haunted the Jewish state since in inception.

The next day Ambassador Oren visited the Command Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth. He was given a personal tour of the facility by the commanding general, Lt. Gen. David Perkins. This beautiful $115 million facility houses some of the most sophisticated educational, technical and planning tools anywhere.

Ambassador Oren was accompanied by Maj. Gen. Yaacov Ayish, defense attaché Israeli embassy; Col. Eyal Rosen, IDF military attaché, Israeli embassy; and Roey Gilad, Counsel General of Israel in Chicago. I had the unique opportunity of attending thanks to Lt. Col. Uzi Klieger, who attended as well, and represents the IDF this year at the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth.

The purpose of this visit was to promote future strategic alliances with the U.S. military. Ambassador Oren touched upon this topic during his presentation and remarked that the level of cooperation between the United States and Israel was exemplary. The visit to Fort Leavenworth was meant to bring the relationship to even higher levels of cooperation.

Oren was given the opportunity to address more than 200 “students” at the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). These individuals all have the rank of major or higher and represent more than 13 different countries. All these individuals have already graduated from the CGSC and this education represents a master’s degree in military art and science. Graduates are known as “Jedi Knights” and since the school’s inception SAMS planners have supported every major U.S. military campaign, providing the army “with many of its top campaign planners for the late 20th and early 21st centuries.”

What was remarkable and why we are so blessed is the nature of 60-minute talk delivered by Ambassador Oren. The diplomat, a famed historian and without any written notes, delivered a stirring address of the history of the U.S. relationship with the Middle East, pre-Israel Palestine, and now the State of Israel.

The author of “Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present,” which I highly recommend, Oren addressed a long list of topics, too long to present here. He emphasized the strong scientific and economic ties between our two countries and made note of the fact that Israel is one of only a handful of countries, including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, that have never known a day of non-democratic rule, in spite of the many crises Israel has faced over the years.

The entire audience, the future military leaders of the free world, was riveted. He made his point. Our mutual history is long and enduring. We are blessed to have such an individual representing Israel and Jews across the globe!

Larry Nussbaum is a supporter of Israel and an adviser of AIPAC Kansas.

While plays like “Next to Normal,” or movies such as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” exaggerate the symptoms of mental illness and make for compelling drama, the reality of living with mental illness is often quite different.

What does day-to-day reality for those with mental illness look like? According to the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), “Mental illnesses are very common; in fact, they are more common than cancer, diabetes or heart disease. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, an estimated 23 percent of American adults (those ages 18 and older) or about 44 million people, and about 20 percent of American children experience a mental disorder during a given year.”

The NIMH goes on to say that “most people with mental illnesses who are diagnosed and treated will respond well and live productive lives. Many never have the same problem again, although some will experience a return of symptoms. The important thing is that there is a range of effective treatments for just about every mental disorder.”

When you hear about ADHD, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia or depression, for example, there is a good chance you already know someone, a friend or family member, living with one of these conditions.

The day-to-day reality for most people with a mental illness is that it’s real, it’s common and it’s treatable. Since thoughts and feelings are invisible, we may not be able to see when others are struggling. We often shy away from conversations about these conditions, unsure of what to say or how to say it, but overcoming the stigma associated with mental illness is the real challenge in our community.

Just as we have learned to talk more easily about AIDS/HIV, cancer, or addiction, we are learning to be more open about recovery from mental illness. We need to be compassionate, understanding and have frank discussions to build connection instead of isolation.

The stigma of mental illness can have as much or more impact on individuals and their family/friends as the condition itself. The sense of shame, loneliness and embarrassment can prevent someone from seeking treatment or support for what can be a manageable and treatable illness. The reality is that millions aren’t simply suffering from mental illness; they are living productive lives and are contributing members of society, dealing with the same daily challenges we all face.

Maybe what “Next to Normal” offers most is the opportunity to think and talk about what mental illness looks and feels like, and to open the discussion beyond stereotypes. Human dignity (kvod habriot) is central to Jewish thought and ethics, and by placing dignity at the center of the conversation around mental illness, we can only improve our lives and our community.

If you or someone you know is in need of some help in dealing with mental illness, contact Jewish Family Services at 913-327-8250.

Richard Odiam is director of clinical services for Jewish Family Services

JCC presents ‘Next to Normal’

The Jewish Community Center Cultural Arts Department presents the musical “Next to Normal” at the White Theatre for three weekends beginning Feb. 9. Performances are Feb. 9, 14, 16, 21 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 10, 17 and 24 at 2 p.m. Each performance will be followed by a talk-back session with a mental health professional to highlight and provide context for the issues raised by the script.

For ticket information, contact 913-327-8054 or visit www.jcckc.org/boxoffice.

I went to Cuba in December, representing Kansas City B’nai B’rith Lodge #184, along with Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn. We joined 17 others on the six-day mission, sponsored by B’nai B’rith International, touring the Jewish communities of Santiago, Guantanamo and Havana. It was a wonderful experience.

We witnessed and were able to participate in the resurgence of Judaism in Cuba. The Jewish community of Cuba has been surviving in the face of many challenges since the revolution in 1959. It has adapted to survive. For example, to meet the requirements for a minyan woman have been accepted as part of it. In deciding on membership for congregations, patrilineal descent is accepted as well as matrilineal descent. A renaissance is occurring with respect to developing new prayer books.

The communities outside of Havana are rarely visited, so we spent the first two days of the mission in Santiago, which is the second largest city in Cuba. Santiago was also the point at which Hurricane Sandy made groundfall as it swept across eastern Cuba in October. Less than two months later, some evidence of up-rooted trees and damaged homes was still apparent. We saw that the community was functioning well, except for an outbreak of cholera that was still of concern because of hurricane-damaged municipal water supplies.

While Cuba has a total Jewish population of approximately 1,500, about 75 Jews live in Santiago and are members of the synagogue. About half of the Cuban Jewish community are descendants of Turkish Jews who immigrated in the 1920s. The other half of the community are descendants of Polish Jews.

The synagogue in Santiago has two Torah scrolls. One is the “Ashkanazi” Torah and the other is a “Sefardi” Torah. The Sefardi Torah needed repair a few years ago. The Jewish community of Argentina stepped in to repair it on the specific condition that women stay at the rear of the room whenever the Sefardi Torah is opened.

We were in Guantanamo on Saturday. When Rabbi Cukierkorn led the Sabbath service there, it was the first one led by a rabbi in the history of the synagogue. Cuba has not had a resident rabbi in the entire country since the exodus of most of the Jewish residents following the revolution.

There are approximately 40 Jews in Guantanamo. Practically all of them are part of the extended Mizrachi family. Almost the entire congregation attended services to meet the B’nai Brith group. As the Mission was getting off of the tour bus on arrival the president of the community, Rudolfo Mizrachi, was vigilant in advancing the plea of the community. He asked for $1,300 so that the synagogue could acquire chairs and an awning for the patio on which the synagogue has most of its events other than worship. It turned out that the chairs being used were thin, flimsy toy plastic chairs. The request should be viewed in perspective: the average wage throughout Cuba is $40 per month. The average wage for doctors is $50 per month. Basic food such as meat, rice and cooking oil is strictly rationed and is not always available.

In Havana, our mission participants learned that the Cuban government has given tentative approval for 45 Jewish students to represent Cuba in the Maccabean games in Israel this summer. B’nai B’rith plans to assist the Patronato, which is the organization that organizes the Jewish community of Havana, obtain the proper athletic gear for the Cuban athletes. Overall the Patronato has to raise more than $125,000 for the athletes to be able to travel to Israel.

Throughout our mission, the spirit of nationalism and the secularism of Cuba was evident. We saw an abundance of signs and banners with slogans such as “Venceremos,” (“We Shall Overcome,”) “La Patria o Muerte,” (“The Motherland or Death”) and “Free the Miami Five” (five Cuban spies convicted of conspiracy in Miami).

Yet we could also see that Judaism is vibrant and developing in Cuba. The consensus among the group was that Cuba has very little anti-Semitism.

The people we met were eager to get everything they could in terms of aid. B’nai B’rith Lodge #184 donated 100 copies of Rabbi Cukierkorn’s book “La Guia,” which covers Jewish ritual and customs and is written in Spanish. The books were enthusiastically received. Even though the Cuban Jewish community has Torah’s kipahs, talit and prayer books, they have no libraries.

While I was there, I learned that the Cuban Jewish community can conduct a fluent service from a prayer book, but they don’t have the skill set to read from the Torah. That worries me somewhat that Cuban Jews are in danger of losing such literary traditions and Judaic knowledge.

But good things have been happening as well. B’nai B’rith has been sending medical supplies to Cuba since 1995. In addition to the books, members of the mission contributed prescription and over-the-counter drugs, canned food and adult diapers to alleviate some of the hardships caused by the economic embargo imposed on the communist country by the United States.

The Jewish community in Cuba has been isolated for 50 years. As the embargo and religious restrictions imposed a half century ago are being eased, there is a window of opportunity to provide resources to help. B’nai B’rith has been developing an effective program to deliver resources so that Judaism can continue to flourish in Cuba. I’m proud to be a member of B’nai B’rith and to be able to help Jews in another part of the world, at least in some small way.