Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy is honored that the family of Rabbi Morris B. Margolies is supporting the school’s desire to dedicate its Program Book for the annual 2013 Civic Service Award Dinner to the memory of the rabbi. The book will be available to all who attend HBHA’s only major fundraising event on Sunday, April 28, at the Overland Park Convention Center.
“He was a scholar and fervent believer that Jewish education was the foundation for the future of the Jewish community,” said his eldest son, Daniel Margolies.
Although Daniel and his brother Jonathan were already in grade school when the Hebrew Academy was established, their sister Malka started first grade in 1966, the school’s opening year. She graduated in HBHA’s second commencement ceremony in 1978.
In the early 1960s, Rabbi Margolies joined a handful of community members who were actively involved in attempting to establish a Jewish day school in the Greater Kansas City area. It was his dream that a successful school be created and sustained for the future of our Jewish community.
Head of School Howard Haas said, “The rabbi stood strong in the face of some who were opposed to the idea of a day school. He promoted the idea and pleaded his case to as many civic and Jewish leaders as he could.” Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy is the result, in part, of his tenacious efforts and his strong belief in educating our children, according to Haas.
Rabbi Margolies was intimately involved in obtaining the initial funding for the school, joining forces with Blanche and Neil Sosland, Carl Puritz and Joanie Greenberg, Joan and the late Walter March, Beryl and Richard Silberg, the late Milton and Bea Firestone, and Sidney and Carol Deutch. It was through their insistence that a day school — at first the Hebrew Academy and eventually the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy — be created “to maintain a vibrant Jewish community in Kansas City,” according to Rabbi Margolies, that has persevered for more than 45 years.
Carl Puritz, whose uncle the late Hyman Brand, was the school’s first president, said the rabbi insisted the school offer both an excellent and rigorous Jewish and secular curriculum.
“He wanted our next generation equipped with the Jewish knowledge and traditions to perpetuate our religion,” Puritz said. “Through his work at Congregation Beth Shalom and at HBHA, Rabbi Margolies benefited our entire Jewish community. His wisdom, love of learning and teaching will be sorely missed.”
Rabbi Margolies was a dynamic presence within the Jewish community in Kansas City. He was an inspiration and a motivator for change and an active supporter of the state of Israel, Jewish education for young and old, civil rights and equality for women. His breadth of knowledge was expansive; he was not just a Judaic scholar but equally well versed in music, the arts, history and sports. His impact as a rabbi and teacher was far-reaching and had lasting consequences for Kansas City.
As rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom for 25 years, he guided his congregants spiritually and emotionally with powerful weekly sermons, persuasive writing and a forceful personality. Though he could be controversial at times, his passion and conviction were rooted in a strong sense of social justice.
Throughout his life, Rabbi Margolies remained an active supporter of HBHA. Daniel Margolies said his father’s commitment to Jewish education, civic service and HBHA never wavered.
“He would be proud of the knowledgeable, spiritual, well-rounded young adults who have matriculated through HBHA’s halls, including his own grandchildren — Rachel, Max, Micah, Shoshana and Jacob Margolies,” he said. “These young men and women are fulfilling his dream of giving back to the Jewish community and ‘seeding the future’ for all of us.”
Howard Haas said, “Even in his final year, the rabbi and his wife Ruth donated special books from his well-known and extensive library so that faculty and students would have the benefit of many famous writings about Torah, Jewish law and customs, authored by highly esteemed writers.”
Dinner co-chairmen Jane Sosland and Howard Jacobson said while Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy is saddened by the loss of Rabbi Margolies, it is truly an honor and a privilege to dedicate this year’s program book for the 40th Annual Civic Service Award Celebration in memory of such a “gifted and inspirational leader in our Kansas City Jewish community.”
HBHA is presenting the Civic Service Award to Joyce and Stan Zeldin and the John Weil Uhlmann Young Leadership Award to Miriam Kaseff. Community members are paying tribute to the rabbi by donating to underwrite the cost of the book, or purchasing personal ads in the book to honor his memory. These opportunities are still available.
Tickets, sponsorships and advertisements may be purchased on the school website, www.hbha.edu, by clicking on one of the topics under the “Seeding the Future” dinner logo. For additional information, contact Director of Development Kerry Cosner at 913-327-8156 or .