Opinions

Miracles re 

all around us. The Jewish people are a 

miracle; the world is a miracle; our existence is 

a miracle.

Our sages explain that there are three types of miracles. When nature changes, as in the splitting of the Red Sea, or the miraculous healing of someone the doctors gave up hope on, we are face to face with a miracle. Yet nature itself, as in the sun coming up each morning, is also a miracle! Nature represents G-d’s creation following a “predictable” pattern, something from nothing. Then there is a third type of miracle, the greatest of all. This is called a “miracle in nature.” It looks like things are happening naturally, but behind the scene is the absolute hand of G-d.

Such was the miracle of Purim. All the true events which transpired, as recorded in the holy Book of Esther, appear at face value to be natural outcomes of things happening. King Ahasuerus makes a party where, in a drunken state, he invites his Queen Vashti to appear. She refuses and is sentenced to death. The king makes a beauty pageant and chooses Esther as his new queen. Mordechai, her cousin, and leader of the generation, tells Esther not to reveal her identity, and the people she comes from. Haman, the wicked prime minister plans to kill all the Jews and Esther saves the day when she approaches the king and informs him of Haman’s wicked plan. The Jews are saved and a holiday is born with the Megillah reading, gifts of food to friends, charity to the poor and feasting on the day of Purim. This year, Purim begins on Wednesday evening, March 20, and continues on Thursday, March 21. All four mitzvot need to be done on Purim day, with a Megillah reading the night prior.

So why the dress up on Purim? Of course, the story of Purim is far more nuanced than the few sentences above. In 10 chapters, Esther and Mordechai tell the story of what happened. Our sages fill in the many details behind the scenes that help us see the hand of G-d in every detail and every step of the way. Thus leading to the downfall of the wicked Haman, and the salvation of the Jewish people.

The story of Purim is the ultimate miracle. Clothed in nature, the hand of G-d is concealed. Yet every discerning individual must surely understand that each occurrence led to the ultimate redemption of the Jewish people, like pieces of a puzzle when put together bring out the beautiful picture.

So it is in our lives. We are walking miracles. Each breath we take is a miracle. Every day of our lives is a miracle. Our body functioning properly is a miracle…

Let us recognize the hand of G-d in our lives and be grateful and happy to do His bidding.

And when we open our eyes, we will see that very soon we too will witness the overcoming of evil in this world and the true and final redemption with Moshiach, when peace will reign in the whole world. May it be very soon!

Happy Purim!

Blumah Wineberg, together with her husband Rabbi Sholom Wineberg, is a longtime Chabad emissary in Kansas City.

The profound rise in anti-Semitism in the world should greatly concern us all. Disguising anti-Semitic speech as free speech is indeed a slippery slope. Supporting a defense of this type of free speech is nothing less than a subversion of “free speech” and dangerously undermines our system of values. 

Is this paranoia? As we prepare to observe Purim and Passover, we should be mindful that while Jews in this country enjoy unprecedented freedoms, history repeatedly shows how destructive anti-Semitism can be. We must not be silent on this issue.

“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” 

(Esther 4:14)

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the most influential rabbis of the 20th century, taught that the Jewish holidays ask us big questions that are of crucial importance to us as humans and as Jews. Sometimes we get so busy living the holiday that we may not take the time to dig deep and think about the questions the holiday is asking us to reflect on. Thus, as we celebrate each holiday, a good spiritual practice is to ask ourselves what that holiday has to impart to us this year.

It’s easy with Purim to feel that we have celebrated the holiday if we have heard Megillat (the scroll of) Esther and rejoiced at the Purim service. But is that enough? There are four mitzvot for Purim: hearing the Megillah, sending treats to friends (mishloach manot), giving gifts to the poor (matanot la’evyonim) and having a Purim feast (se’udat Purim). The Megillah itself tells us to do these things. I don’t think it is by accident that the majority of these have to do with creating or nurturing community.

One of the big questions that Purim asks us is “are we doing enough to support and help the people around us?” If Mordechai had not cared about the king enough to try to get a message to Esther, Ahasuerus would have died. And of course, it took great courage from Esther (she risks her life) to ask the king’s help to save our people. Purim teaches that activism is required if we are to survive and thrive in this topsy-turvy world.

We need our community if we are to flourish mentally, spiritually and physically, and we need to each be willing to help others if our world is to get better. So the mitzvot on this holiday encourage us to spend time with one another — to reach out to friends and to help those who are in need.

Recently, I heard Kevin Willmott, the co-writer of the movie “BlacKkKlansman,” speak. In speaking about the civil rights movement, he noted that “change only happens due to struggle.” We have to be willing to work hard if we want to see our society improve. The impetus for that forward movement, he pointed out, is usually that some group has been pushed to the side and decides to push back or speak out. We Jews know this story first hand. Purim and Passover remind us that we have been the disenfranchised. Sometimes we still are. But others also face tough battles that we must also care about.

One of the reasons I am a committed and proud Reform Jew is that, more than any other Jewish movement, ours has firmly and loudly espoused the belief that men and women and people of all nationalities and races are EQUALLY God’s children and EQUALLY deserving of respect and opportunities to succeed. We don’t just talk about this. We put money, advocacy, thought and whole Jewish careers into supporting rights for women, African Americans, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, etc.

When we hear the story of Esther we are reminded of the inner strength of women, the need to speak up for groups that are powerless, and the commitment we need to have to help both our Jewish community and the broader community. May we, as a Jewish community and individually, continue to be among those who speak out and work hard in the struggle for a better, more equal society.

Chag Purim Sameach!

Rabbi Debbie Stiel is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka.

A discussion about Jewish Disabilities Awareness & Inclusion Month would not be complete without a tribute to Ahoovim, a group for Jewish adults with cognitive challenges. Ahoovim meets nearly every month to celebrate a Jewish holiday, do a craft project or go on a field trip. Nan Kanter started Ahoovim along with Rabbi Benjamin Gonsher (formerly of the KC Kollel) roughly 12 years ago, and leads it with compassion, creativity and humility. (Her husband, Sid, plays a big part, too.) The meetings are enriched by the participation of Rabbis Shaya Katz and Allan Gonsher as it was in past years by other KC Kollel rabbis. They truly bring out the spark in each participant.

As a volunteer for Ahoovim, I have seen first-hand what a different this program has made in the lives of these adults, and how much joy they get out of it. I have also had the privilege of getting to know them as people, not people with disabilities. Ahoovim reminds us how important it is to be inclusive, and how embracing differences makes our community richer.

Sharon Loftspring

Leawood, Kansas

In the Feb. 14 issue of The Chronicle Sol Koenigsberg wrote an opinion piece in which he compared Jewish refugees from the Nazis to the immigrant caravans presently storming our southern borders. Koenigsberg severely criticizes President Trump, using expressions such as “warnings have no merit,” “delusional” and “wall of hostility.” He accuses President Trump of “demonizing Nancy Pelosi.” 

In contrast, Isi Leibler wrote an opinion in the International Jerusalem Post, Feb. 8-14, page 21, which deserves to be compared to Koenigsberg’s negative remarks about our president. Leibler writes that President Donald Trump has thus far been a very good friend to Israel. He noted that the Democratic Party’s radical and anti-Israel wing is growing and is already threatening the favorable congressional bipartisan concessions toward Israel that have prevailed.

Leibler observes that the Jewish community is utterly disunited and detracting in its loyalty to the Jewish state. “Non-Jewish Jews” have emerged, who regard “social justice and their Democratic affiliation as forums factoring in their Jewish identity”… yet Trump unquestionably is the most positive president toward Israel.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed Ilhan Omar, a bitterly anti-Israel Muslim, to the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Democratic Party is being rapidly radicalized.

Thus, Jewish identity is presently horribly being submerged by excessive progressivism.

Mr. Koenigsberg, Lady Liberty is by no means synonymous with the radically left-leaning Democratic Party.

David S. Jacobs, M.D.

Overland Park, Kansas

I am launching Exodus Now, a political action group that will lead the walk away movement from the Democrat Party within the Jewish Community.

For decades I have been the voice of the Jewish community as a Democrat, appearing regularly on FOX as well as my own radio program. 

I am a strong supporter of President Trump and I laud the president’s decision to finally move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. President Trump has supported the Jewish people like no American President in history, while Democrats have clearly become the party of Israeli and Jewish opposition. Have we learned nothing from the history of oppression?

Anti-Semitism is being embraced more by the day by the Democrats. If we don’t exit now, we are part of it. I believe the answer is to support President Trump. I ask you to join him and support Exodus Now. A committee is now in formation.  More information will be available at  a later date on ExodusNow.org. 

Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg

Edison, New Jersey

For the last 11 years, February has been designated as Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). Is there anything uniquely Jewish about disabilities? No. But is it Jewish to pay attention to a month about disability awareness and inclusion? Yes.

Rabbi Edythe Held Mencher, LCSW, notes in an article published by Union for Reform Judaism earlier this month that it’s important for Jews to observe and participate in this important initiative because it is the Jewish way “to cherish each and every life and to support every struggle for dignity and justice; it is Jewish to work directly with each person and each family to find out what they need to be able to learn, pray, find friends, feel a sense of belonging, and contribute to the shaping and sustaining of community; it is Jewish to dispel prejudices and misconceptions that contribute to isolation, underemployment, and lack of human rights.”

Here in Kansas City we have SASONE, a program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. For over two decades now, SASONE (the Hebrew word for “joy”) has, each year, been providing services for approximately 200 children with special needs so that they can attend Jewish preschools, Sunday and Hebrew schools, the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and summer camps at the Jewish Community Center.  

SASONE’s services, under the direction of Perry Hilvitz, can be accessed in a variety of ways, including:

• Collaborative work between special needs consultants and congregations, families, social programs and camps to create and modify programming to meet the needs of individuals diagnosed as having a special need;

• One-to-one assistance provided by para-educators;

• Modifications and adaptations of curriculum in school settings;

• Increased student and teacher strategy implementation through training in the following areas: classroom management, learning styles, physical disabilities, behavior issues, developmentally appropriate practices, sensitivity training in the area of special needs, applied behavior analysis, transitioning, youth group director and para-educator support, communication with other professionals, conferencing with parents and community service resource list.

SASONE is proud to join together with Jewish organizations and communities from all over the world in this unified effort to raise awareness and champion the civil rights of people with disabilities. In the greater Kansas City area, we are fortunate, blessed and proud to be celebrating the 22nd year of this community-wide special-needs program. SASONE’s tagline continues to be: “Bringing the JOY of Jewish education to children with special needs,” which says it all.

During this Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month, let us acknowledge SASONE as a wonderful asset to our community. Let us commit ourselves to continue the work necessary to ensure that those with disabilities who need our help have a full, rich and meaningful Jewish life. By doing so, we can become our better selves by continuing to keep the doors open to Jewish education for all of our children.

Next week two programs are taking place in honor of JDAIM. The community is invited to the Jewish Community Campus, which meets federal accessibility standards and guidelines, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26.  This educational program will focus on supporting individuals with disabilities both in Israel and in the Kansas City Jewish community. It features Gidi Zur, CEO of Kivunim, New Directions for Special Needs Youth, an organization serving young people with disabilities in Israel.

During the event, Zur will share information about Kivunim’s ground-breaking work in creating new programs and models to help those with disabilities live meaningful and independent lives while contributing to society. He will also share how the Israeli government is investing in programs for people with disabilities, and options that people with disabilities in Israel have for integration and inclusion. 

The event also will offer information about the Kansas City Kollel’s Ahoovim program for adults with special needs from Nan Kanter, the assistant program coordinator, and will feature a short performance by talented pianist and Ahoovim participant Andrew Fink.  

SASONE will be represented at a community resource fair, which will showcase organizations that work with special populations in Kansas City. The resource fair runs 6:40 p.m.-7 p.m. and immediately following the program from 8:20 p.m.-9 p.m.

This event is organized by Jewish Federation in partnership with Jewish Family Services. Co-sponsors are JCRB|AJC and the Jewish Community Center – The J. Please register for this free event at jewishkansascity.org/newdirections. 

Professionals who work with Jewish people who have special needs will also get a chance to learn from Kivunim’s Zur earlier that day at Jewish Family Services — Brookside East. To register for the training session contact Debra Orbuch Grayson M.S., LCMFT, Clinical Manger at 913-327-8298.

At SASONE we believe an all-inclusive community is a stronger community, and while this quest is universal, Jewish values and traditions provide teachable moments to advance inclusion.

 Sandy Passer and her husband, Steve, along with Alan Edelman, are the co-founders of SASONE and chairpersons of the SASONE committee. Anyone interested in joining the SASONE committee should contact Sandy or Steve Passer at .

Ninety-five years ago, an anti-immigration barrier was created. It was not made of concrete or steel. It was made of paper, a legislated act of the Congress of the United States. It was successful in sharply limiting the entry of would-be immigrants, particularly those seeking asylum. 

Attitudes regarding immigration, principally the Immigration Act of 1924, are still with us. The Act authored by Washington Congressman Albert Johnson, who was chairman of the House Immigration Committee, has been described as “a legislative act of xenophobia.”

The law was a reaction to the mass immigration of people from Asia and Eastern Europe (Italians and Jews), characterized as “undesirables.” From the late 1800s to 1924, 4 million Italians and 2 million Jews immigrated to the U.S. More than 40 percent of Italian immigrants went back to their home country. They took their earnings with them to purchase land and improve their lives. Returning to the countries from which they came was not an option for Jews as they sought safety and a new life from the countries from which they fled. 

On Nov. 8, 2018, Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau offered an apology for turning away a ship with German Jewish people seeking refuge. The SS St. Louis from Hamburg was refused permission to land by Cuba, the U.S. and Canada. The ship returned to Europe. (More than 250 people were then murdered by Nazis.) Canada is the only country that has apologized for its refusal to grant asylum to the passengers of the St. Louis. Miss Liberty, with the poem by  Jewish poet Emma Lazuras on her pedestal, must have wailed in despair. (“...Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, ...”) 

We must consider, did the world miss the opportunity to have saved others that would be like Jonas Salk, Leonard Bernstein, Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the nuclear navy, Albert Einstein and many, many more? 

Today, President Donald Trump has created chaos that affected the lives of loyal, innocent government workers so he could make good on a campaign promise to build a wall on the southern border to keep out “rapists, drug dealers, sex exploiters of young girls, and other bad people.” To bully Congress to his will, Trump made the lives of more than 800,000 government workers and others miserable by being furloughed and without paychecks for weeks. He had taken out his petulance on those who had nothing to do with a Trump Wall.  

There are those that point to previous presidents that built walls in some areas between Mexico and the U.S. So why the resistance to Trump’s $5.7 billion project? The answer is that Trump hysterically exaggerates who those seeking entry are. It cannot be proven that we are “being invaded.” Trump’s warnings have no merit and appear to be delusional.

In his State of the Union address, Trump read from his speech obviously not reflecting his own views on uniting Congress for the good of the whole of the country. Instead, he built a verbal wall between what he read and his feelings. He introduced:

• A 10-year-old girl that survived cancer and raised funds to benefit children with cancer. His administration policy of “zero tolerance” tears children away from parents wanting to enter the U.S.

• A Holocaust and Pittsburgh synagogue survivor. At the Charlottesville demonstration neo-Nazi thugs shouted anti-Semitic chants. Trump called those who defamed the memories of millions killed by German Nazis “nice people!”

• Family members of murder victims of illegal immigrants. It is certain that immigrants commit crimes and must be held accountable. Studies show that immigrant criminal activity is far less than in the general population. Trump’s claims that we are facing a crisis is another example of delusional thought.  

The president emphasized unity when at the same time he builds a wall of hostility between himself and leaders of the Democratic Party. He has begun to demonize Nancy Pelosi claiming that her actions are harming our country. (It worked for him on Hillary Clinton!) 

There are walls and there are walls. Some of solid materials, some on paper and some are verbal. 

Sol Koenigsberg is executive director emeritus of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. 

A mensch, not a Jew

With reference to the Feb. 7 Listening Post column, while it is commendable that Julian Edelman takes pride in his Jewish ancestry and speaks out on behalf of Israel, if the information in your article is correct, there is no way he can be considered to be Jewish unless he formally converts to Judaism. According to your article, he had a Jewish father but was not raised in the Jewish religion. Neither the Orthodox nor Conservative branches accept patrilineal descent. The Reform movement accepts patrilineal descent only if the person is raised in the Jewish religion. So while he may be a mensch, he is not one of us.

Stu Lewis

Prairie Village, Kansas

A variety of walls

Man has always needed walls to keep the threat away from his existence of being able to survive the unknown.

History has its great walls. The castles of Europe, the Great Wall of China, water — and they all come tumbling down, even today.

“Do fences make good neighbors?” asked Robert Frost.

America’s great walls were her two oceans; people ran from European hierarchy to our teaming shores because of Europe’s social walls (classes), royalty and church. The English population ran from the Church of England, the French from its two republics, the Jews ran from ghettos — all of whom came to America. African slaves were introduced to the walls of ships to a land they could not escape.

This new melting pot produced the greatest republic the world has known. But we have now retreated to Trump’s wall. Why? — for fear of people of color. America’s suburbs are walls. Inner cities are walls, the poor, the middle class and the wealthy are walls. Our past still allowed us to thrive and build a better union.

We were that shining light on the hill.

Now the issue is all about the “money.” Money is only a tool for man, but man has always needed people to make survival great. So what has changed us? Guns, violence and this loss of empathy.

These are the new walls: Big data and algorithms.

So…

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall;

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Jesse C. Newman

Overland Park, Kansas