ROCH CHALK CHALLAH — If there’s a KU basketball game on a Friday night and you are a Jewish student waiting to enter Allen Fieldhouse, you just may encounter KU Hillel’s Rabbi Neal Schuster passing out challah. Rabbi Schuster said KU Hillel does not do a program on a night featuring a KU home game. Instead, he tries to reach the Jewish students where they are.
"The way I look at it we’ve got all these Jews who are all gathering in one place. If they aren’t going to come to Shabbat, let’s bring Shabbat to them," said Rabbi Schuster, who is KU Hillel’s senior Jewish educator.
He said the Jewish students "just go absolutely nuts" over these challahs. KU Hillel often serves challah from Great Harvest bakery, but many of the challahs given out last week were baked by KU sophomore and 2013 HBHA graduate Avery Parkhurst.
"I showed up and just started to hear, ‘rabbi, rabbi, over here, over here,’" he said, noting that Jewish students from all different groups enjoy this pre-basketball, pre-Shabbat treat. This past Friday, "there was even a group of girls who were not Jewish who asked, ‘Are you the guy who has that awesome bread?’ I had a nice conversation with them, too, and gave them some challah."
Rabbi Schuster said it’s great to give the students a chance to remember that it’s Shabbat so they are able to celebrate it a little together, "even if it’s not in a traditional setting."
HAPPY RETIREMENT —The Jewish Heritage Foundation has announced that long-time Executive Director Ellen Kort will retire at the end of 2014. Kort served at that post for 10 years, and before that was the much beloved executive director of the Jewish Community Center. Once she retires, she hopes to spend more time with her family, particularly granddaughter Lila, but we predict Kort will continue to lend her time and expertise to many community projects. The Jewish Heritage Foundation provides grants to organizations that promote health and well-being in the greater Kansas City community. The committee conducting the search for Kort’s successor will be led by Dan Scharf and Sharon Loftspring. We send our best wishes to Kort as she begins her next adventure.
HASIDIM OF CROWN HEIGHTS — If you happen to be traveling to New York between now and Feb. 1, Blumah Wineberg suggests you stop by the Brooklyn Public Library and see the Hasidim of Crown Heights exhibit, photographed by Japanese photograph Chie Nishio. Wineberg says, "It is quite fascinating to view the Jewish community my husband (Rabbi Sholom Wineberg) grew up in from her lens! Another local connection is that one of the pictures is of a brit milah for a family member which I attended!"
MORE MADOFF MONEY BRINGS TOTAL TO $10.3 BILLION GOING BACK TO INVESTORS
(JTA) — Victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme will split another $500 million, bringing the total recovered to $10.3 billion.
Trustee Irving Picard on Monday announced a settlement with two "feeder funds" that are being liquidated in the Cayman Islands. The funds had invested with Madoff but had withdrawn their profits from Madoff’s firm in the six years before it collapsed. Investors in those funds are also entitled to recoup some of their losses.
The settlement must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, which has scheduled a Dec. 17 hearing to consider approval of the deal, according to The Associated Press.
Picard has distributed to bilked investors nearly $6 billion of the $10.3 billion recovered in the past six years.
Madoff, 70, is serving a 150-year sentence at the medium-security federal prison in Butner, N.C., for a scheme believed to be the largest of its kind in U.S. history. He pleaded guilty in March 2009.
The scheme affected a disproportionate number of Jewish individuals and organizations.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED — Due to an increase of clients receiving meals, K.C. Kosher Meals on Wheels is in need of additional drivers and cooks. To learn how you can help, call 913 735-3663.