SHALOM STATUE DEDICATED — On Yom HaAtzmaut, HBHA dedicated the Shalom Statue by the school’s entrance. Commissioned by Joel Levitch, z”l, Hyman Brand’s grandson, the statue is like a giant puzzle. Each colored section represents a Hebrew letter forming the Hebrew word, shalom. Shalom has several meanings — hello, goodbye and, in this case, peace. Levitch meant for it to be a direct response to the recent uptick in anti-Semitic threats and violence across the world. This beautiful, vibrant art piece at HBHA’s entrance will now forever be a beacon of peace and hope.
Sadly, Levitch passed away suddenly last year before seeing his dream come to fruition. It was a special honor to have members of the Brand family, the Maslans and Puritzes, in attendance for the dedication.
GOVERNOR SIGNS REVISED ANTI-BDS BILL — Last week, on Wednesday, April 18, Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer signed House Bill 2482 into law, to take effect July 1.
The new law amends the law that took effect in 2017 preventing the state from awarding contracts to any company or person engaged in an anti-Israeli boycott or adopting any policy that would support such a boycott.
The current law was a response to the BDS movement — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions — a Palestinian-led initiative intended to increase economic and political pressure on Israel. The law is being challenged in the U.S. Court for the District of Kansas, which ruled on Jan. 30 that it violated free speech rights. That case could still go to trial.
Israel supporters in Kansas hope the revised law will help clarify the original intent of the law in a way that would prevent court challenges.
HONORING ANN JACOBSON — Many in Kansas City know of the late Ann Jacobson (1926-2014), whose family was among the last Jews to leave Germany for the U.S. at the onset of World War II. When the family settled in Kansas City it didn’t take Jacobson long to embark on a lifelong calling as an activist and renowned community volunteer. She served three years as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City and later held the same position in her adoptive home of Naples, Florida. She served as a board member of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah in Kansas City and Temple Shalom in Naples.
Earlier this year Bill Barnett, the mayor of Naples and a personal friend of Jacobson, proclaimed a “We Are One Day” and encouraged residents “to honor the memory of Ann Jacobson and to celebrate the individuals who not only work to better our community but also embrace compassion of others.”
Rabbi Adam Miller of Temple Shalom in Naples said the city’s Jewish community remains very proud of Jacobson’s legacy. “Even today people come up to me and say they became involved because of Ann,” said Rabbi Miller. “Ann had a passion for keeping people together and for social justice. So much of what we have here is because of Ann.”
Rabbi Miller said an ongoing community volunteer recognition award series, the Ann Jacobson Lames Vivnik Awards, has been established in her honor. He noted that among Jacobson’s most noteworthy achievements in Naples are the building of the Holocaust Museum & Education Center and the establishment of the Catholic-Jewish Dialogue.
HOME HOSPITALITY NEEDED — Once again the Tzofim (Israel Scouts) Friendship Caravan will be stopping in Kansas City this summer. In addition to performing at the Jewish Community Campus at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. on July 10, they will spend some time connecting with other Scouts in the area. This group is comprised of both males and females, ages 16 and 17, and they will need places to stay while they are here. They arrive on July 6 and will leave the morning of July 11. That’s five nights. Hosts will need to provide beds for each guest; separate rooms if hosting both males and females; transportation to and from the Campus; snacks and meals — kosher, kosher style, vegetarian, vegan, non-kosher (matches will be based on need); and family and/or private/personal time. Interested? Contact Shiran Cohen, Federation’s Israel emissary (through May 15) at 913-327-8124 or , or Ted Goldstein at 913-271-6798 or .
PLANNING TO BE IN NEW YORK SOON? CHECK THIS OUT — Overland Park native Whitney Chapman is debuting a new cabaret show this spring in New York. If you are going to be in New York City on Sunday, April 29, Thursday, May 10, or Friday, May 18, you might want to catch “Whitney Chapman Sings Bacharach & David” at the Don’t Tell Mama Cabaret Theater, 343 West 46th St., just “Off Broadway.” All shows start at 7 p.m. Reservations may be made by calling 212-757-0788 (after 4 p.m.) or visiting donttellmamanyc.com. Chapman likes to tell folks she is from Kansas and her grandmother was actually named Dorothy! She is the daughter of Alan and Tina Chapman.
‘ITZHAK’ PREMIERS MAY 4 AT THE TIVOLI — From Schubert to Strauss, Bach to Brahms, Mozart to ... Billy Joel, Itzhak Perlman’s violin playing transcends mere performance to evoke the celebrations and struggles of real life; “praying with the violin,” says renowned Tel Aviv violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. Alison Chernick’s documentary looks beyond the sublime musician to see the polio survivor whose parents emigrated from Poland to Israel, and the young man who struggled to be taken seriously as a music student when schools saw only his disability. Perlman himself is funny, irreverent and self-deprecating, and here his life story unspools in conversations with masterful musicians, family and friends, and most endearingly his devoted wife of 50 years, Toby. The Perlmans’ lives are dedicated to their large, loving, Jewish family in New York City and their continual support of young musicians. The film is described as a portrait of musical virtuosity seamlessly enclosed in warmth, humor and above all, love. For times and ticket information, visit tivolikc.com.
KCREP’S NEW WORKS FESTIVAL OPENS APRIL 27 — Kansas City Repertory Theatre wraps up its 2017/18 season with its “OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL.” Entering its third season, the “OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL,” running April 27 through May 27, 2018, positions Kansas City as a major player and national center for the cultivation and production of new works, while offering theatre artists from across the country the financial, creative and artistic resources required to develop vital, diverse works of theater.
The “OriginKC: New Works Festival” is curated and produced by KCRep Associate Artistic Director/Director of New Works Marissa Wolf under the leadership of Artistic Director Eric Rosen.
“The New Works Festival is my favorite time of year when audiences come together to experience incendiary, breathtaking productions that spark illuminating dialogue after every show in our Community Conversation series,” Wolf explained.
The New Works Festival includes two fully-produced productions, two script-in-hand-readings, a University of Missouri/Kansas City Department of Theatre production, and other ancillary events. Kansas City audiences have the unique opportunity to engage with the process of creating theater while giving emerging and established writers the resources to develop plays for future seasons at KCRep and beyond.
For a complete list of productions, tickets and more information, visit kcrep.org or call 816-235-2700. For group ticket sales, call Andrew at 816-235-6122.
EXTENDED ACETAMINOPHEN USE DURING PREGNANCY INCREASES RISK OF ASD/ADHD (JNS) — For the first time, prolonged use of medication containing paracetamol or acetaminophen by pregnant women has been linked to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in their children, according to researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Pregnant women are standardly prescribed acetaminophen or paracetamol as safe for pain or fever management during pregnancy.
However, new evidence gathered from 132,738 mother-child pairs over the course of three to 11 years by Dr. Ilan Matok and doctoral student Reem Maarwa at the Institute for Drug Research in Hebrew University Medical Faculty’s School of Pharmacy, in partnership with Dr. Amichai Perlman and Dr. Hagai Levine of Hebrew University and Hadassah University Medical Center, has concluded that acetaminophen and paracetamol have neurodisruptive properties that may affect the development of the fetal nervous system when given in low doses over an extended period.
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, reveals that prolonged exposure to acetaminophen throughout pregnancy is associated with a 30 percent increase in risk for ADHD and a 20 percent increase in risk for ASD, in comparison to those who did not take the medication.
The researchers were quick to point out that the results should be interpreted with caution. They emphasized that pain and fever have negative effects on the developing fetus, and that pregnant women should not be anxious about limited use of acetaminophen or paracetamol to manage those symptoms, as the drug is still safe to use in the short term.
“[T]he observed increase in risk was small, and the existing studies have significant limitations,” said Matok. “While unnecessary use of any medication should be avoided in pregnancy, we believe our findings should not alter current practice, and women should not avoid use of short-term acetaminophen when clinically needed.”