Opinions

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.

Jewish immigration was important to our survival

I recently came across an immigration document: “Alien Immigrants Arriving at the Port of Baltimore,” 1892. Listed on the document are my great-grandmother, Chieh Berman; my grandfather, Alexander Berman; and his sisters. Their origin is “Grosen Russland” (Great Russia), which included Lithuania, their home.
This document is from familysearch.org, a free genealogical service from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I wondered about the alien immigrants: were they legal or illegal? In those days, illegal aliens were not much of a problem. The first time the United States restricted immigration from an ethnic group was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Such restrictions culminated in the Immigration Act of 1924, which virtually excluded Jews, Asians and others deemed inferior. North and South Americans had largely free rights to immigrate here until 1965.
If my ancestors had not immigrated here before those restrictions took effect, they probably would have died in the pogroms and Holocaust.

Elizabeth B. Appelbaum, Ph.D.
Overland Park, Kansas

Thank Israel for providing useful technologies

In today’s age of “instant fake news” much of which involves the BDS and other anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slants (some hidden and some not), the media seems to not report, or conveniently forget, what Israel is doing for the world.
For instance, go to your computer (don’t forget Israel was responsible for the Windows operating system) and Google “Superman’s Got Nothing on Israel.” That YouTube video shows what tikkun olam is all about. Another video example is “The Operating Room of the Future — InSightec,” presented by Technion alumnus Dr. Kobi Vortman. This amazing marriage of MRI with ultrasound appears to be revolutionizing what can be done without cutting our bodies. Women with ovarian cysts no longer need to have surgery but can have the cysts dissolved with targeted ultrasound. People with essential tremors can have this affliction removed, again without cutting on their bodies. This incredible technique is even now being used with brain tumors (and appears to now be in the U.S. and FDA approved).
Don’t forget the medical strides being made by Hadassah hospitals or Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Instead of focusing upon what Israel is doing, in their opinion, wrong, the world needs to stop and thank Israel for providing it technologies we use every day.
Shanah Tova! May this year see peace for all of us!

Joe Pfefer
Overland Park, Kansas

“Rising, The Book of Challah” by Rochie Pinson. (Feldheim Publishers, August 2017)

If I wrote that I had been trying to get a review copy of this book since November 2017, readers would find that hard to believe, but the book arrived at my door recently.
If I wrote that Rebbetzin Pinson has written 352 pages about challah, you would ask — are those recipes?
Well, yes and no. This is truly her philosophy, spirituality, history and everything you wanted to know about challah, including 38 recipes.
“The intent of challah,” writes the rebbetzin, “is to reveal our innate power to nurture and nourish, and reclaim our mothering potential in all the forms it can take.”
Section I, the Story of Challah, explains how this young rebbetzin bride arrived in Kobe, Japan, with no kosher bakery, soon got into making 40 challot for the Jewish community.
The rebbetzin then expands to other information about challah and her connections, a detailed examination of each ingredient and information on rising.
Section II is the Cookbook with reviews and details of ingredients and equipment and troubleshooting.
There are eight classic recipes including her own classic challah recipe, gluten free challah and vegan challah; eight holiday specialties like apple and honey challah and pretzel challah; six recipes from around the world such as Moroccan challah, Yemenite challah and Bukharian challah; nine challah embellishments including “fishy” (a challah shaped like a fish with salmon, tuna, mushrooms and other vegetables; deli challah (yes, with deli meats!) and rainbow challah using food coloring; eight recipes for leftover challah like babka, cinnamon bars and French toasts; and seven challah toppings and accompaniments, such as cream cheese frosting, challah stuffing, and challah croutons.
Section III are Laws and Customs such as “separating challah,” challah customs and challah meditations.
The book concludes with a glossary and index.
Besides the recipes, there are 108 color photographs (and I might have missed a few!) and many sketches such as 37 ways to braid and shape a challah.
This book is really everything you ever wanted to know about challah written with love and nurturing. It is filled with a huge amount of information including the story of the rebbetzin’s life “as realized through challah baking, and challah baking as a metaphor for balanced, integrated nurturing of our self and our loved ones.”
Rebetzin Rochie Pinson, who grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, cofounded the IYYUN Center for Jewish Spirituality with her husband, Rav DovBer Pinson, 10 years ago, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, New York. They have four children. She mentors women and teaches classes including the challah baking workshop, which she teaches worldwide.
Is this the book to give to anyone who bakes challah? Absolutely and to anyone else who might be contemplating it.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, author, compiler/editor of nins kosher cookbooks and food writer for North American Jewish publications, who lives in Jerusalem where she leads weekly walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.

One of the first memories of religious learning I can recall involves “circle time” at the Jewish Day School from which I recently graduated. Before delving into all the intricacies and complexities of our religious heritage, culture and texts, a teacher summarized it all with the story of the great scholar Hillel, who was confronted by a curious stranger who demanded he explain the entire Torah while standing on one foot. His response was simple yet powerful: “Do not treat your neighbor with unkindness. This is the entire Torah, the rest is interpretation. Now go and learn.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, Page 31a). Years later, after countless hours studying everything from theology to Jewish tort laws, I still remember that message: my Jewish identity is founded in a religion of love and compassion, and that my individualism is inherently and powerfully intertwined with my relationship to everyone else around me. This aphorism, echoed in nearly every religion, inspires me to fulfill the promise of building bridges of trust, support and empathy with all of my non-Jewish neighbors.
I began to visualize the impact of this story — not only personally, but also in the nation and world — when I joined my Jewish high school’s community justice partnership with University Academy and its largely Christian, African-American student body. Together, we learned about the Civil Rights movement before journeying to the South on a learning experience like no other. United as a group of kids of all colors, creeds and cultures, our connections echoed the partnership of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King Jr. Like those incredible forces of positive change, our friendships grew into commitments to each other — to protect our rights and advocate for love over hatred. As Heschel affirmed, “When religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.” (“God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism”) Again, the message of Hillel — the message of coexistence and mutual care — resounded true.
As studying the Civil Rights movement elucidated the monumental possibilities catalyzed by interfaith dialogue, I was quickly galvanized to take action in my own life. Last summer, I applied as a delegate for Anytown, a weeklong youth leadership institute sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice (founded as the National Conference for Christians and Jews). I was hooked by the “social justice” and “diversity” descriptors on its website, so I dove in, even though I had never heard of it, let alone knew anyone who had previously attended. On the first day, I cautiously joined a circle of teens singing about a moose. Soon, however, I looked around the lawn and realized I wasn’t alone in my trepidation. We were all completely unfamiliar not only with each other, but with the religions, cultures and backgrounds we all represented. The song was unavoidably hilarious, though, and our skeptical smiles quickly turned into laughter. Just like that, we had broken the ice.
The next morning, I found myself standing in a line, holding hands with the other delegates. To grapple with that day’s topics, racism and classism, the staff began to ask us questions and prompt us to step forward or backward depending on our answer. “Step backward if you have wished to see more people of your race in TV and media.” “Step forward if you have never been afraid of calling or encountering a police officer.” I moved forward again and again and again. Finally, we were asked to look around. Immediately, I noticed one Hispanic boy who, at the beginning of the activity, had been holding the hand of the white counselor next to him. They fruitlessly tried to stay connected as they moved one step, two steps, three steps apart, attempting to bridge the gap that separated them, which was now more than 30 feet wide.
It hit me then. I knew why I needed to be there. By throwing myself into an honest exploration of privilege and discrimination, I was jolted awake to injustices I hadn’t fully internalized.
During the next day, focused on sexism, I found myself on the other side of the 30 foot chasm. Again, I felt depressed and angered, and felt a renewed sense of urgency. These recurring painful and powerful moments fostered a much deeper motivation to make my own impact and actualize the kindness Hillel emphasized. At Anytown we grew to love ourselves and each other for characteristics too often used to compartmentalize and divide us. Experiencing both sides of that stepping activity widened my eyes to the consequences of hatred and the urgent need of taking steps toward those different than us. As we joined together, the teen delegates of Anytown and I fostered a deep and lasting acceptance, appreciation and ardor for each other, not despite but because of our differences. No matter where we came from, we all wanted to hold on to each other through every activity and experience we’d be faced with. If those unbreakable bonds could be built from scratch in under a week, I realized, the potential connections to everyone I may encounter are wonderful and infinite.
Though Hillel’s message has remained a constant source of inspiration, its message continues to expand. What I once held onto as a sweet parable promoting “kindness” has evolved into a multifaceted responsibility to bring goodness to all of my neighbors. Further, I take the word “neighbors” not as a community of my friends, peers or geographical acquaintances; it is the assertion that I must explore and interact with everyone with the mindset that they are not strangers but rather world neighbors. I will continue to search for new meaning within the interpretations and details of my religion and others, knowing that our shared foundation of lovingkindness can ignite positive change worldwide. I will welcome and seek out new sparks of dialogue, connection and action. I believe that with this outlook of open-mindedness, kindness and coexistence, we can all make the world a better place. “Do not treat your neighbor with unkindness. This is the entire Torah, the rest is interpretation.” Whether I am beginning kindergarten, college or any other phase of my life, I will devote myself to these words and ready myself for action. “Now go and learn.”

Haidee Clauer is the the winner of the 2018 Margolis Memorial Essay Contest sponsored by Kansas City Lodge #184 B’nai B’rith.  She  is a 2018 graduate of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and is a freshman at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Haidee  is the daughter of Mira Klausner and Todd Clauer.