CELEBRATING ORIGINAL JEWISH SONGS — You missed a real treat if you were not in the audience at Congregation Beth Torah’s third annual Spring Session on April 29. Directed by Beth Torah Music Director Emily Tummons, more than 100 people played roles in the day’s activities including composers, three singing rabbis and an interfaith chorus. When the concert was over, we had heard a total of 21 new compositions! The interfaith chorus was made up of singers from many faith communities and backgrounds including Jewish, Catholic, Sikh, Native American, Protestant and Buddhist. They took to heart the message of Linda Salvay’s song “The Other Side,” and as a group committed themselves to joining hand-in-hand and as the song says, “taking our sisters’ and brothers’ side.”
Two things stuck with me following the concert. The first, “Hineh ma tov uma nai’m, shevet achim gam yachad. How good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to sit together.” The other, as I watched the musicians collaborating with each other throughout the program, was a line you may remember by The Beatles, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” And musical friends they are, coming from almost every congregation in the area.
This event, put on by Beth Torah with help from a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City and donations, is a beautiful and relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon. My suggestion is to mark your calendar as soon as next year’s date is announced. It’s a concert not to miss!
‘I’D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY’ — One of the best lines from Sunday evening’s Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy Civic Service Award Celebration came from Carol Caviar, who was honored along with her husband Arnie with the 2018 Civic Service Award. In her acceptance speech, Carol said she often likes to use that line, but on this night it really had meaning! On a more serious note, she said she and Arnie “are honored and humbled to receive this award,” before wishing everyone good health, peace and happy days.
Head of School Howard Haas discussed many of the Jewish day school’s accomplishments, including the fact the 252 students this year is the largest enrollment the school has had in more than a decade. He also said his goodbyes. Haas is moving back to the West Coast following the completion of the school year after 11 years at HBHA to spend more time with family and to pursue new career opportunities. Board of Trustees President Michael Abrams thanked Haas for his years of dedication and “compassion for our children.” Haas put it best when he said, “Nothing is more important than educating our children!”
TAKING A STAB AT BDS — Even though the crowd at HBHA’s Civic Service Award Celebration was most definitely pro-Israel, Israeli entertainer Dudu Fisher, who is probably the only shomer Shabbos Broadway star who did not work on Shabbat or Jewish holidays when he was starring in “Les Misérables,” pointed out that if you want to boycott Israel, “just die!” In discussing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, he pointed out that Israeli technology is a part of most things we use daily including our mobile phones and computers. He said if you want to boycott Israel, you’ll have to “throw your cell phones into the sea!”
HOBBY LOBBY TO FORFEIT SMUGGLED ARTIFACTS (JTA) — The United States returned some 3,800 ancient artifacts to Iraq that had been smuggled to the U.S. retailer Hobby Lobby through the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
The packages containing cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals and clay bullae, as well as other artifacts, were labeled as tile samples. Most of the artifacts originated in the ancient city of Irisagrig and date back to 2100-1600 BCE. They were intercepted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on their way to three addresses in Oklahoma City, where Hobby Lobby is headquartered.
The company agreed last year to forfeit the artifacts and pay $3 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the U.S. government.
A repatriation ceremony was held last week in Washington, D.C.
The objects will be turned over to Iraq’s Ministry of Culture and to museums and universities for study and exhibition, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, Fareed Yasseen, reportedly said.
Hobby Lobby’s president, Steve Green, last year opened a Bible museum in Washington with 40,000 biblical artifacts.
In a statement several months ago, the company said it had been acquiring artifacts “consistent with the company’s mission and passion for the Bible,” with the goal of preserving them for future generations and sharing them with public institutions and museums.