MORE2 RALLY AGAINST VIOLENCE — Two of our local rabbis, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz of K.I. and Rabbi Doug Alpert of Kol Ami, took part in Monday’s rally against violence sponsored by MORE2 at Ilus Davis Park downtown. The organization planned it because “violence is killing our community.” Rav Shmuly explained that they “gathered together with the mayor as clergy of all faiths to unite against gun violence. It is crucial that Jewish leadership is at the forefront of speaking out against injustice and oppression. The Jewish tradition is unequivocal about the need to create safe societies that honor the human dignity of all people.”
MORE2 (pronounced more-squared) is committed to achieving racial and economic equity through grassroots organizing efforts that engage congregations in forging regional solutions to the most pressing problems of the metro Kansas City area. Ohev Sholom’s Susan Choucroun is the only person of the Jewish faith on the organization’s board of directors. Monday afternoon she said she was very gratified to see rabbis in attendance and taking action.
THE RABBI AND THE VATICAN — Rabbi Herbert Mandl had to postpone his trip to Rome to conduct research at the Vatican. The first part of the Mandls trip was to Israel to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of their oldest grandson. The day after the Bar Mitzvah, Barbara Mandl was injured in a fall and they returned to Kansas City for medical treatment. She is expected to make a full recovery and the rabbi hopes to reschedule the Vatican trip for early June. By then there will be a new pope and Rabbi Mandl is hoping to get an audience with him. “I now understand why I was told the outgoing pope was too ill to do audiences,” he said.
“HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH” — I learned this week, courtesy of Jewniverse, that this summer marks the 50th anniversary of Allan Sherman’s greatest hit, “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh,” a song in the form of a letter from a kid at sleep-away camp to his doting parents. The catchy ditty climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard charts, and Sherman’s album, “My Son, The Folk Singer,” sold 1 million copies. If you like tidbits like this visit Jewniverse.com, which features extraordinary, inspirational, forgotten and just-plain-strange dispatches from Jewish culture, tradition and history. The daily newsletter is a project of MyJewishLearning.com.
