Once again, I am happy to say “todah rabbah” to the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City for sponsoring the Passover Meals prepared by Cathy Levin and her “chefs,” as well as the culinary staff at Brookdale.
Yom HaZikaron is the national Remembrance Day observed in Israel for those who have fallen in defense of the country since 1860. As of May 2016, that number was 23,447.
More than half a century after the Holocaust, I found myself on the steps of the Kahal Kadosh Shalom Synagogue, built in 1577 in Rhodes, the largest of Greece’s Dodecanese islands.
April 22 marks Earth Day, which has been celebrated worldwide since 1970. It is celebrated in more than 192 countries every year. I would suggest that bringing a more specifically Jewish consciousness to Earth Day will help us deepen our commitment to practices that help and don’t hurt God’s creation.
Israeli emissaries Shiran Cohen (from left), Bar Sananes of Palm Beach and Dana Berman of Delaware were among the 19,000 delegates that attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference last week.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and executive branch of the United States. AIPAC has more than 100,000 members and 17 regional offices all over the U.S. and was founded in 1951.
Having just attended another AIPAC Policy Conference, it’s hard to accept the annual mischaracterization of what occurred, and the criticism of AIPAC as partisan.
Although my wife, Rachel Perkal, and I currently reside in the Chicago area, we have kept a subscription to the KCJC for all of the years since we have moved away from Kansas City because we both have very strong ties to our former home.
My life’s purpose is to “Connect, Inspire and Empower Community.” That is the mantra I live by — not just in business, but in everything that I do. If we seek to come together as united citizens of the world, there is no telling the heights we can reach. And yet, from time to time, someone tries to prove me wrong. To challenge the assumption that none of us is as strong as all of us.
