FEATURED IN THE WASHINGTON POST — Our own Jerusalem correspondent Sybil Kaplan was featured in an article on Dec. 27 in the Washington Post by William Booth. It’s about the Mahane Yehuda outdoor market, where Kaplan regularly leads shuk walks, and she calls it “a window into Jerusalem’s hungry soul.” Kaplan returned to Israel and her husband Barry made aliyah in 2008. She has been leading her walks, which she calls “Getting to Know the Shuk,” for four years. In an email, she said she couldn’t believe how many people she knows actually saw the article. Booth met her when he took the walk and then decided to write about it. Even though he describes her as pint-sized, she says at 5-feet-5 ½-inches tall she’s not. She’s also not technically a bubbe, since neither of her daughters have children, but she is a step-grandmother to Barry’s grandchildren. Booth did get it right when he described her as a woman with a “journalist’s street-level knowledge of the market. She knows her shuk.” You can read the entire article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/at-mahane-yehuda-outdoor-market-a-window-into-jerusalems-hungry-soul/2013/12/26/0d772b72-6b38-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html.
NO BABY YET — As of late afternoon Tuesday, Jan. 7, as The Chronicle prepared to go to press, there was no word of the birth of a first Jewish baby. If you think you are the proud parent of the first Jewish baby of 2014, call 913-951-8425 or email . The official rules were published in the Dec. 26, 2013, edition.
BLAKE EPHRAIM UPDATE AND FUNDRAISER — Blake has had an amazing recovery according to her mother Lisa Wilcox. She had the surgery to replace the piece of her skull doctors had to remove following her stoke in mid-December and while the road to recovery following that surgery wasn’t as smooth as the family would have liked, she was able to go home on Dec. 27 and ring in the New Year with her family there. They are counting on 2014 being a healthier year for all!
As life continues to get more normal for the Ephraim-Wilcox family, Blake’s friends are still helping out in any way they can. Next up is “Blake’s Benefit,” hosted by the Olathe South High School cheer team on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the high school. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a soup/chili dinner followed by performances from area junior and senior cheer and dance teams. Tickets can be purchased at the door. For more information contact Rachel Carroll at .
KC KOSHER MEALS ON WHEELS SEEKS VOLUNTEERS — KC Kosher Meals on Wheels is growing and due to an increase in the number of clients the program is serving, the organization needs more volunteer cooks and drivers/visitors. Cooking takes place during the day at the kitchen at Torah Learning Center and meal deliveries take place on Friday and Sunday mornings between 10 and 11 a.m. No cooking experience is needed, just the desire to help others. Its drivers/visitors must undergo training, but no experience is required for these opportunities either. Being a volunteer with KC Kosher Meals on Wheels is a great way to make new riends as many volunteers have formed close bonds with other volunteers and clients alike.
To date, KC Kosher Meals on Wheels has provided more than 2,400 kosher meals to elderly or disabled members of the Jewish community. If you are interested in volunteering, email Esther Friedman at . KC Kosher Meals on Wheels is also accepting donations. Tax deductible gifts can be mailed to KC Kosher Meals on Wheels, 8800 W. 103rd St., Overland Park, KS 66212.
THE GREAT BRA EXCHANGE IS BACK — clair de lune, a lingerie boutique and its customers are demonstrating their support for victims of domestic abuse through The Great Bra Exchange today, Jan. 9, through Jan. 26.
The event, kicking off its 10th year, has a very simple premise: Trade in your gently used bras during the Great Bra Exchange. Each used bra is worth $15 toward the purchase of a new bra at clair de lune. In turn, those gently used bras will be donated to Hope House, a Kansas City metro area shelter for women escaping domestic abuse.
In the 10 years of the Great Bra Exchange, clair de lune owner Terry Levine estimated that more than 15,000 bras have been donated to the shelter.
“Our partnership with clair de lune and their customers these last 10 years has meant so much to us,” said MaryAnne Metheny, Hope House CEO. “Often, women come to us under dire circumstances with no chance to pack a thing. Thanks to clair de lune, Hope House can provide them with not just shelter, but basic needs such as undergarments and other clothing.”
The popularity of The Great Bra Exchange has grown dramatically since 2005.
“Certainly our customers benefit from the Bra Exchange, but they really get behind our partnership with Hope House,” Levine said. “We’ve even had some local businesses organize teams to collect money as well as bras for the cause. Not wanting to be left out, many out-of-town customers get involved by shipping their used bras to us. Our customers have demonstrated a sincere desire to help others. We’re only too happy to reward them for their thoughtfulness.
Located in Hawthorne Plaza at 119th and Roe in Overland Park, Kan., clair de lune lingerie boutique magnifique was opened by Terry Levine in October 2004. The popular boutique specializes in bras, bra fittings and special-order bras and showcases the largest selection of sizes in Kansas City.
Hope House services form a safety net of prevention, education and support for more than 10,000 victims of abuse every year. Residential and outreach services are provided through two secure locations in Independence and Lee’s Summit, Mo. The 24-hour hotline for crisis intervention can be reached at 816-461-HOPE (4673) or 816-HOTLINE (468-5463) or you can visit hopehouse.net for more information.
For more information on The Great Bra Exchange, visit clairdelunekc.com or call 913-491-3232.
SMOKE DETECTORS REALLY WORK — Artist Michelle Lynn, whose home was featured in Jewish Life magazine several years ago and whose art has been featured all over the area including the Jewish Arts Festival, certainly didn’t seek the publicity she got on Fox 4 news last week. But she’ll tell anyone what she told the TV station, smoke alarms save lives. An extension cord caught fire in her basement and fortunately the smoke alarms went off just like they are supposed to and kept her and two others from harm. She told Fox 4, “They make a horribly annoying noise and that’s good, woke us all up because it was about 4:30 (in the) morning,” she said.
“Get your fire alarms, get your smoke detectors checked. I just had mine replaced this summer and I’m so glad I did,” the Jewish artist said.
While she concentrates on refurbishing her home, she will also be preparing for her next show in February at Ward Parkway Shopping Center.
A JEWISH FLAVOR TO ‘INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS’ — I haven’t seen the movie “INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS” yet, but Rabbi Andy Bachman from Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, N.Y., has written about it in his blog, “Water Over Rocks. ” If you’re a Coen brothers fan, or simply like reading Jewish perspectives on movies, check it out at http://www.andybachman.com/2014/01/in-ways-normal-to-his-place.html. The movie opened late last month at the Glenwood Arts theater in Overland Park. Call 913-642-4404 for the schedule and ticket prices.
FROM JNS.ORG — EGYPTIAN ASTROLOGER WARNS JEWS WILL GROW STRONGER IN 2014 — An Egyptian astrologer has predicted on television that the Jewish people will grow stronger in 2014 because Saturn will enter a fire sign in December of this year.
Egyptian astrologer Sayyed Al-Shimi said on Al-Nahar TV that many events in past Jewish and Israeli history happened under similar astrological conditions, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“When Saturn enters any of the fire signs, the Jews grow stronger. Don’t believe in this merely because I say so. It’s been tested. The Balfour Declaration was released when Saturn was in the fire sign of Leo… the 1948 [War of Independence] took place when Saturn was in the fire sign of Leo. The 1956 [Sinai War] took place when Saturn was in the fire sign of Sagittarius. The 1967 [Six Day War] took place when Saturn was in the fire sign of Aries,” he said.
