JEWISH PROVERB: Today’s words of wisdom are provided by a faithful reader, who got it from a friend:
A Jewish wife will forgive and forget, but she’ll never forget what she forgave.”
BUILDING HAS JEWISH ROOTS — Eric Schultz, a Chronicle subscriber and a multimedia journalist at NBC Action News, called last week after a wall collapsed at the Cain Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church. While there NBC Action News staffers, including multimedia journalist John Batten who graciously supplied us with this photo, discovered the Hebrew words -------beit ha midrash ha gadol------- on another wall. With some help from our friends at Kehilath Israel Synagogue, we were able to ascertain that the church, located at 1701 E. Linwood was once the home of Beth Hamidrash Hagadol synagogue. KI’s Rabbi Herbert Mandl said that congregation was a predecessor of BIAV. Sam Gould reminded us that there were several Jewish institutions located on or near Linwood Avenue, including the Jewish Community Center. Sam said the teenage boys who regularly played basketball at the JCC, including him, were often pressed into service when Beth Hamidrash Hagadol didn’t have 10 men to make a minyan. Upon further research we learned that, according to “Mid America’s Promise” by Joseph P. Schultz, Beth Hamidrash Hagadol was one of 10 synagogues in the Kansas City area who all joined a federation called the United Synagogues of Greater Kansas City. The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle called it a “feat of far-reaching significance, which should be indelibly recorded in the annals of Kansas City Jewry …” Coincidentally, Joseph Schultz is Eric Schultz’s father.
FUTURE STAR — Emily Waldberg is another young member of the Jewish community who is doing well in her athletic endeavors. Her volleyball team won every tournament they played in this year except one. Her team, Dynasty, recently competed at the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships in Atlanta where they played teams from California, Atlanta, Kentucky, Delaware, New York, Ohio, St. Louis and Colorado. During the tournament Emily and her teammates were interviewed by USA Volleyball Magazine, and their picture was featured on the magazine’s website. The daughter of Dan and Brenda Waldberg, she is 13 years old and will be an eighth-grade student at Overland Trail Middle School in August. The family belongs to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.
HEARING MOTHER’S VOICES — Andrea Katzman, who hails from Lawrence, Kan., believes in the strength of mother’s voices and the power of their stories. That belief is so strong she co-wrote “Purple Leaves, Red Cherries: A Gift for Mothers with Short Stories, Journal & Toolkit” with Tania Elfersy. The book is filled with beautiful illustrations and is full of short messages “that invite you to reflect on the complexities of motherhood, inspire you with the words of other mothers and encourage you to create your own stories.” Andrea is currently a preschool teacher at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island and is a wife and mother of two. The book can be purchased at amazon.com.