THE FIRST OF MANY HONORS — KI’s Senior Rabbi Herbert Mandl was recently elected to serve a third consecutive term as president of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City. What’s interesting about this is that until now the Rabbinical Association limited its officers, who serve one-year terms, to no more than two consecutive years in the same office without taking a break. The local rabbis amended its constitution recently so that Rabbi Mandl, who is retiring in 2012 after 35 years at KI, will continue to serve at the helm of the Rabbinical Association through his final year as a full-time pulpit rabbi. Rabbi Mandl said he was overwhelmed by the gesture his colleagues made toward him.
MORE ARMY FOLKS — Efi Kamara let us know that there are at least two other young people from Kansas City who are currently serving in the Israeli army — Sam Kahn and his daughter Gili Kamara. It looks like there may be at least one more going to Israel to serve by the end of the summer. Stay tuned.
MOVING ON — Rabbi Larry Karol, 1970 Temple B’nai Jehudah confirmand and the rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka from 1984-2006, will become the rabbi of Temple Beth El in Las Cruces, N.M., July 1. The rabbi has lived in Dover, N.H., since 2006 as the rabbi of Temple Israel Dover. While in Dover, Ronda Karol directed the Early Learning Center at Temple Israel Portsmouth, the Conservative congregation, and taught religious school at both congregations. Rabbi Karol, who just celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination, served the New Hampshire community in a variety of volunteer positions the past five years and received the Spiritual Care Award from Dover’s Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in 2010.
Coincidentally, Rabbi Gerald Kane, a former educator at B’nai Jehudah, is the rabbi emeritus at the Las Cruces congregation. He and his wife, Cyrille, still live there.
CHANGE THE WORLD WITH A CLICK OF YOUR MOUSE — During its recent Boogie to Broadway fundraiser, Jewish Family Service unveiled its new agency video. Give it a watch, share it on your Facebook page and e-mail the link to your friends. It’s less than 1-minute long and Don Goldman, JFS’ executive director, said he really wants people to see it because it’s powerful and touching. You’ll find it at the JFS website, www.jfskc.org.
JEWISH KC REUNION IN CHICAGO — Imagine Jewish KC will host a Happy Hour Reunion in Chicago, Tuesday, June 21, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for young professionals ages 21-40 who are formerly from Kansas City or who are interested in learning more about the metro area. The event will take place at Fulton’s on the River’s ~ Bridge Bar — 315 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60610. There is no charge to attend; however, a $10 donation will be appreciated. RSVP’s are required. If you know of someone that should be invited, send his/her e-mail address and phone number to Beth Jacobson at or leave a message at (913) 981-8896. Imagine Jewish KC is a joint initiative between Jewish Vocational Services and The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, which identifies and/or recruits young individuals (ages 21-40) and their families who are interested in returning to or remaining in Kansas City.
WHERE IS SHALOM TV? — A few weeks ago, Gloria Yakre of Overland Park called The Chronicle office to say she misses Shalom TV since switching from Time Warner Cable to SureWest. She said she loves the informative, entertaining Jewish programming offered by that station. She wondered if anyone knows why SureWest doesn’t carry it. We told her AT&T U-Verse doesn’t carry it, either. So The Chronicle did a little investigating.
AT&T U-Verse is interested, but the technologies don’t match and the company can’t add the network without incurring significant, additional costs.
We still don’t know why SureWest doesn’t carry the network.
So, for all you SureWest customers who would like to check out Shalom TV, maybe a call to SureWest’s office would help! You can also send e-mail to Shalom TV at or visit their website at http://shalomtv.com/index.htm.