HELP SOUGHT TO INTEGRATE LOCAL JEWS-BY-CHOICE — A Jewish integration coordinator position is being created by the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City to ensure the successful integration of new Jews-by-choice into their synagogues and into the Jewish community after they complete the Rabbinical Association’s yearlong community course: “Judaism for Conversion Candidates” and their actual conversion to Judaism. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}The coordinator will meet with new Jews-by-choice to explore any barriers to full integration in the Jewish community that they might be experiencing, and facilitate personal connections for new Jews-by-choice within their synagogue home and connect individuals to the general Jewish community. Hours are flexible and candidates must be available during the months of April-May and Aug. 15–Dec. 31.
Applicants for this position must have a strong Judaic background and knowledge. They need to be resourceful and knowledgeable about programs and services offered in the Greater Kansas City Jewish community; congregations, organizations and agencies. Good communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, as well as being able to work collaboratively, independently and effectively and build and maintain positive working relationships with rabbis, students and the Rabbinical Association conversion class coordinator and administrator is required.
Interested candidates for this position should submit resume and cover letter to the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City via email to or to: 5801 W. 115th, Box 113, Overland Park, KS 66211. Deadline for submitting resumes is Feb. 28. A detailed job description can be found on the Rabbinical Association website at kcrabbis.org.
Aaron Nielsenshultz, coordinator for the community course for conversion candidates, states: “The Jewish integration coordinator position will play an important role for new Jews-by-choice. While most communities do a lovely job welcoming new members, there are some gerim (converts) who find full integration into the community a bit daunting — so many people already know everyone else, or they seem to have some inside-information (at least it looks that way) on what’s going on in the community, so it can be hard for new people to join. The integration coordinator can help by raising awareness both for Jews-by-choice and the community, connecting people with like interests who might not know that it’s OK to talk to each other or who might not know how to open the conversation. Just smoothing these initial steps will really underscore the open and warm nature of the Kansas City Jewish community.”
This position is made possible by the Flo Harris Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
BRAND NEW FORMAT — My friends at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah tell me they’ve made some programming changes and the auction that used to take place at the annual Purim carnival is now an event of its own. It’s bigger. It’s better. It’s “The Auction,” and it will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 12. In addition to auction bidding, silent and live, patrons will enjoy good wine, hors d’oeuvres and a beautiful dessert bar. More information will be available soon.
The Purim Carnival will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8. It is expected to be great for kids of all ages!
‘GENESIS CODE’ — Remember the article we published about Jamie Metzl’s book “Genesis Code” late last year? The main character in the book is Armenian-American and Metzl and the book were recently featured on the front page of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator. You can read the entire article online by going to www.mirrorspector.com, then click past issues, then click Jan. 17, 2015, and you will find the article at the bottom of the first page.{/mprestriction}