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Written by Jewish Chronicle Readers
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Thursday, June 06 2013 11:00 |
Thank you Alan Bram
This gem we call the Jewish Community Campus has served our community well since its opening in 1988. Since the creation of the Campus we have had the good fortune to have a premier facility manager in Alan Bram. I was fortunate to work with Alan when he came on board as he was initially officed at the Jewish Federation when it was located downtown. It was immediately clear to me that the Campus leaders back in the late ’80s recognized an extremely talented facilities’ manager when they met Alan. Their prescient decision to hire Alan has resulted in 24-plus years of real devotion to keeping the Campus as our community’s gem. Many of you probably aren’t aware that over the years Alan has been a consultant to other facilities around the country. His knowledge and expertise of how to run a complex and multi-purpose facility is rare. Alan’s dedication and commitment to keeping the Campus in such great shape has allowed our community members to work and play in a safe and well-kept environment. His selection of accommodating and knowledgeable staff has made the Campus the envy of all who visit here. Alan Bram is retiring and although he may not be physically present with us going forward as the Campus director, his influence and tender loving care of our community home will never be forgotten and for that we owe him much gratitude, appreciation and our collective thanks.
Shari Stimetz
Gladstone, Mo.
Scouting evolves, values persist
Recently, The Chronicle covered the decision of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to change its membership policies to no longer exclude gay youth. This is a long-awaited step in the right direction, which should be seen as evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
Many of us in the Jewish community actively participate in Scouting because it is a program proven to succeed in its mission to instill in youth character, citizenship and fitness. An independent (not commissioned by BSA) study from Baylor University*, utilizing the Gallup poll’s methodology, was released early this year entitled “Merit Beyond the Badge.” The Baylor study revealed that Eagle Scouts exceed societal norms in areas such as participation in health and recreational activities, connectedness to their families and community, community service activities, protecting the environment, planning and preparedness, goal orientation and respect for diversity, among others.
The National Jewish Committee on Scouting voted earlier this spring to support a resolution to allow the chartered organizations (sponsoring institutions of cub packs and scout troops) to determine their own membership and leadership standards to reflect the values of the chartered organization for their youth programming. That resolution did not make it to a final vote at the national BSA meeting this May. The resolution that was voted on by more than 1,300 Scouting volunteer delegates from throughout the country passed by a 61 percent to 39 percent margin, repealing the ban on gay scouts, but not on gay adults serving in a leadership role.
It took 13 years for Scouting to evolve from the Supreme Court decision supporting BSA’s right, as a private institution, to create its own membership and leadership standards, even if such standards were discriminatory. How long will it take BSA to evolve to the next step of inclusiveness among leaders, as well as youth, remains to be seen.
Scouting’s success for over a century in leadership and character development in our nation’s youth is hard to match. Today more than 2.7 Million youth participate in the Scouting program, while locally more than 35,000 youth are in the Scouting program. Scouting has and will continue to change as societal norms evolve. Meanwhile, many of us who are active in Scouting will continue to work from the inside for evolutionary change, trying to be patient and persistent as we continue to provide a proven program for today’s youth to achieve the values that their families and communities recognize in leaders.
*Jang SJ, Johnson BR, Kim Y, “Eagle Scouts: Merit Beyond the Badge”, Baylor University, 2013.
Norman Kahn, Member, National Jewish Committee on Scouting; Chair, Central Region Jewish Committee on Scouting; Former Chair, Heart of America Council Jewish Committee on Scouting
Joyful conversion process
I’ve always believed that when something is in our destiny, we just have to wait until it comes and then we must work hard to make that dream come true. That’s exactly what happened to me recently during my conversion process.
It was during Chanukah in 2012 that I met a Jewish Argentinian man who would help me more than anyone during the process. He also introduced me to Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn.
I still remember when I met Rabbi Cukierkorn. He was sympathetic, kind, reliable and pleasant. I chose him as my teacher.
After that came a series of long emails, where Rabbi Cukierkorn was always willing to help me. After a little less than a year, the rabbi told me I was ready for my conversion and he would come to Mexico for the ceremony. But I told him I wanted to travel to Kansas instead.
I flew for Kansas City on the 29th of Nisan. My conversion took place the next day. I was very nervous. Once inside Kehilath Israel Synagogue where the mikvah is located, we went inside the library to meet the members of the Beit Din — Rabbi Cukierkorn, Rabbi Paul Silbersher and Rabbi Scott White.
They asked me about many things I had studied with Rabbi Cukierkorn. After about an hour, I went to the mikvah.
Since the very first moment I entered the mikvah, I started to experience a very unique sensation. It was a mixture of euphoria and calmness. Everything was different. I felt joyful. It is something unexplainable with words. It was so beautiful and I’ll never forget it.
Following the mikvah, we headed toward the shul. There Rabbi Cukierkorn let me hold the Torah and Rabbi Silbersher started to sing. I must confess I’ve never heard a man sing with such intensity and so beautifully. I just can’t stop talking about the wonderful feeling it all provoked in me. I was finally converted!
The day wasn’t over yet. Rabbi Cukierkorn showed me around the Jewish Community Campus, we attended the Yom HaShoah service, he introduced me to his beautiful family and he gave me a few gifts in honor of my conversion.
The day of my conversion was only the second time in my life I saw Rabbi Cukierkorn. When I saw him that day, I felt as if I had known him for a long time. I will never forget his kindness and hospitality. Thank you rabbi!
Stephanie Ruiz Lack
Puebla, México
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Written by Jewish Chronicle Readers
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Thursday, May 30 2013 11:00 |
Shavuot speaker explicit, not vulgar
Mark Wasserstrom is an old friend. But I can’t concur with the observations in his letter to The Chronicle last week (May 23), wondering if the subject matter of Rabbi Steve Greenberg’s keynote session at the all-night Shavuot study session at Kehilath Israel was appropriate.
Rabbi Greenberg is the first (and, I believe, only) openly gay Orthodox rabbi. His discussion was an examination of the various commentaries concerning the rationales for the biblical verses on sex between men found in Leviticus. The session was very well attended, with perhaps 200 people present. Perhaps Mark arrived a few minutes late, because at the very beginning Rabbi Greenberg warned the audience that some of the discussion would be explicit so if that made them uncomfortable they could leave before he began. As I recall, nobody did. Parts of the subsequent discussion were indeed explicit, but not vulgar. The biblical passages under discussion are about specific sexual acts. At the time they were set down there was no real understanding of homosexuality as a sexual orientation. For the (presumably) heterosexual writers of the Torah this was only about specific sexual acts that men might engage in. Under the circumstances, it is difficult to discuss those passages without being explicit about the actual things that are proscribed. That’s especially the case when discussing these passages in an Orthodox context, as Rabbi Greenberg does, because the verses can’t simply be overlooked or deemed out-of-date as other Jewish denominations might do. They have to be analyzed and distinguished if there’s to be a way to reconcile them with our modern understanding of sexual orientation as an intrinsic component of a person’s G-d-given nature.
Rabbi Greenberg is an attractive and appealing speaker, with a fine mind and a great sense of humor, and in my view he did an outstanding job discussing a sensitive topic that has too often been avoided in our synagogues. I would note that there were no children in the audience. If a group of adults can’t discuss the mitzvot about sexual behavior at 10:30 at night, when can we? Nobody walked out of the session and quite a few people clustered around Rabbi Greenberg at the end of the session to ask questions or follow up on things he had mentioned earlier. Judaism contemplates every aspect of existence, including our sex lives. It therefore has to be appropriate to discuss traditional Jewish views of sexual morality to understand how they may apply in our own day. Obviously, Rabbi Greenberg wasn’t able to cover all that in a 90-minute session, but he certainly gave everyone in the audience many things to think about. And isn’t that the whole purpose of a Torah study session?
Rob Montague
Overland Park, Kan.
Amazing entertainers add to special Mother’s Day
Every mother is special. Many believe that, but few people or groups care enough to put their words into action. On May 10, some generous individuals produced a free Mother’s Day Concert that rewarded mothers with beautiful words and first rate music.
I took my mother to this event, which was arranged and organized by harpist Michael O’Shiver at the Jewish Community Center. This program, which was sponsored by the Heritage Center, would not have been possible without the other amazing entertainers: Max Berry, Denny Osburn, Ronny Reed, Ray Zarr, Donald Cox, Horace Washington and Ricky Anderson. Finally, I would like to shine a light on an exceptional singer, Patricia “Princess” Lyons-Cox. She is more than an entertainer, she is a musical wonder!
All people there, including my mother, were spellbound by the show. Afterward, my mother and I dined at the Heritage Center, which designed a fancy Mother’s Day lunch complete with cucumber sandwiches, chocolate strawberries and fancy pastries.
In addition to mothers, I feel that benefactors and professional organizations that spread good cheer for these special women should also be celebrated! Thanks to all!
Renee Franklin
Overland Park, Kan.
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Giving ourselves to ease the burden of others |
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Written by Rebecca Katz, Guest Columnist
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Thursday, June 06 2013 11:00 |
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Imagine standing where your home once stood and looking around at your neighborhood and seeing nothing but pile after pile of rubble, bricks, insulation and remnants of the personal items that made up your life. Now, imagine that it is not only your neighborhood but also the neighborhoods to the left and the right, and in front and in back. This is the scene in Moore, Okla.
As Jews, especially, we are taught that all people are our brothers and sisters. It is with this spirit in mind that Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel of KU Chabad reached out to our community asking who would join him in traveling to Moore to help those in need. I am so incredibly thankful for the opportunity that he gave me, my husband Jonathan, my sister Molly and nine others.
On the early-morning ride to Moore we were giggling and laughing as we would on any other road trip. The second we turned into the affected areas, the van went silent. We took in everything around us and the dramatic impact of it all.
The Oklahoma City Chabad facilitated our volunteering. When they took us to the neighborhood we would be assisting, they told us that these people have lost everything and we are here to do whatever they may need us to do. Jonathan, Molly and I went off in one direction by ourselves and set off to see whom we could help. As we walked down 13th Street, looking at lot after lot of former homes, we saw an elderly woman standing with another man. We approached her and told her that we were there to help her if needed and how sorry we were for her losses.
Diana shared with us her experience during the tornado. She was already being cared for by hospice prior to the tornado and her brother was with her on that day. Just like many homes in Oklahoma, her home did not have a basement. So Diana and her brother laid in the bathtub, using blankets and pillows as protection. After the tornado passed, the only walls left of the house standing were the ones around the bathroom. Diana passed out from the trauma of the tornado, but she saw the tornado pass over her home and saw a man caught up inside it screaming. There is just no way he could have survived, she told us.
Diana’s family had already been clearing away at the rubble that had been her house for the past 10 days, but they asked that we help because they were still desperately looking for a bag with her medications and the family Bible. We searched for hours. At one point, Jonathan located the stand that the family Bible had been sitting on. Her brother said that is the closest they will likely get to see of the family Bible that had been around for generations. He said he thinks the Bible went up to heaven.
That day there were so many volunteers, with groups of every faith and race, who came from across the county and across the world to assist the residents. There was even a group of Israeli volunteers who had been there since very soon after the tornado.
Seeing this level of devastation shows how quickly our lives can change. As we gathered our group together to leave, we all felt somewhat distraught at how little we had done compared to how much there is still yet to be done. But every brick moved is one brick closer to the people of Moore being able to start their lives again. We saw evidence of this even in a tree that although it had been shred away, the life within it was starting to bloom again on its branches, just one week later.
I felt such pride in our Jewish people and particularly the Chabad community of both Oklahoma City and KU for taking the initiative to assist Moore. The Oklahoma City Chabad has been down in Moore every day since the tornado hit talking to people, giving out teddy bears to children, gift cards to families, moving debris and whatever else was needed of them. It didn’t matter who these people were, Jewish or not, we were all children of G-d in that moment and we all depend on each other. We all wish that devastations like this will not happen again, but this is not G-d’s plan. We cannot question why these things happen but we can instead give of ourselves to make the burden even the slightest bit easier for those who must endure it.
Rebecca Katz, an attorney with Cohen, McNeile and Pappas, P.C., is a member of Congregation Beth Torah and Kehilath Israel Synagogue. She and her husband Jonathan are the parents of a young son, Sam.
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Why I must leave Kansas City and move to Jerusalem |
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Written by Ophir Hacohen, Israeli Shaliach
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Thursday, May 30 2013 11:00 |
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“All the generations before me donated me
bit by bit so I might be erected here in Jerusalem
all at once, like a house of prayer or a foundation for charity.
It binds. My name is my donors’ name.
It binds.
I must change my life and my death
day by day, and so fulfill all the prophecies
they prophesied about me. So they do not become a lie.
It binds.”
 This excerpt is taken from the poem “My Name Is My Donor’s Name,” by renowned Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. I am a big fan of Amichai’s poetry … and have been for several years. I believe he catches glimpses of universal human truths, not just of Israeli existence.
During my stay in Kansas City, I have been asked several times to speak about what life is like in Israel as a young woman. I have been asked to give perspective about why I choose to live in Israel every day; why I am choosing to move to Jerusalem after finishing my year as emissary in K.C.; and what I have learned from being here. This poem reflects my feelings about living in Israel. It catches my truth in the most beautiful way.
When Amichai writes “All the generations before me donated me bit by bit,” I feel that he is talking about me. I’m a sixth-generation native Israeli on my father’s side. My great grandfather’s father, Rabbi Michel Hacohen, came to Jerusalem from Lithuania in the 1840s. Upon his arrival, he found the Jewish quarter isolated and poor, its residents living off of donations and just barely surviving. Rabbi Michel didn’t settle for this harsh reality. He returned to Europe to study the art of print, and returned to Jerusalem to open the second Hebrew newspaper.
After publishing several newspapers, he joined forces with six peers and bought the land that was to become “Nachalat Shiv’aa” (Land of seven), which was the third neighborhood outside the old city walls.
You see, Israelis have always been and always will be creative entrepreneurs. That is something I think defines Israeli character. Think about where we live, and what we have been forced to overcome ever since the first aliyah came to Israel, in the late 19th century: hostile neighbors, swamps, disease, constant war, no natural resources. My great grandfather did not have a choice. It was either re-invent yourself, improve your surroundings by thinking outside the box, or cease to exist. It was relevant in 1840 and it is still relevant today. Being an Israeli means you always have to be creative, plan ahead while living today because who knows what will happen tomorrow?
Rabbi Michel’s great grandson, my grandfather Eliezer Cohen, served in the Palmach (elite underground unit prior to the IDF), and together with my grandmother Nechama, built Kibbutz Erez on the northern Gaza border in 1949. My aunt was the first child born on the kibbutz.
My grandparents on my mother’s side, Arye and Zmira Granit, were Holocaust survivors from Poland and Belgium. My grandfather escaped to eastern Russia during the war, and later became one of the first Israeli pilots.
Both sets of grandparents fought for a Jewish state, for a safe homeland for the Jews. One side of my family survived the darkest period of time for the Jewish people; the other was born in Israel and didn’t think twice about picking up the gun and fighting. It was the only way to survive. This is my history, these are my roots. “My name is my donors’ name, it binds.” It does bind. Who am I to ignore my heritage and my past? My family has fought to build Israel and protect it, my job is to continue their way.
There is a famous Israeli saying by Yigal Alon (a former IDF chief of staff), “A nation that does not remember its past has a poor present and its future remains unknown.” Every Israeli is either an immigrant or came from an immigrant family. Whether from Europe, India, Northeast Africa or America. Israel is a country of immigrants.
We must all remember where we came from and what we had to endure before Israel became a known fact 65 years ago, and a safe haven to this day for Jews throughout the world.
However, Israel is not only a safe haven, a place to go to in times of need. It is a living and breathing reality for 8 million of its citizens. And life in Israel is complicated and isn’t always easy. In the fall, I will begin my first year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Due to my army service (I was an education officer for three years in the IDF) and work as an emissary, I am starting school at age 23.
As a native Tel-Avivian, it is not an obvious choice to pick up and move to Jerusalem (imagine a native New Yorker moving to Kansas City!). Jerusalem is a beautiful, breath-taking city. It has been the heart of three religions for thousands of years, and to this day it isn’t peaceful. Housing is expensive, and so is life in general. Social and religious pluralism issues are not to be ignored either. In a recent survey, there has been a negative immigration from Jerusalem. Less than one-third of students who graduate university in Jerusalem choose to relocate due to work and social life. Living in the holy city certainly isn’t easy.
But then again, being an Israeli isn’t easy or comfortable. People ask me what I’ve learned in Kansas City. I think I’ve been giving the opportunity to gain some perspective and see Israel through other people’s eyes. This has been very interesting and thought provoking. Some memorable moments include:
• Learning KC has eight (now seven) young adults from this community who chose to make a life-changing decision and join the IDF as lone soldiers.
• Watching school children write letters to soldiers and thanking them for protecting the Jewish people.
• Witnessing an Israel Independence day celebration in Manhattan, Kan., where there is a Jewish community synagogue without a rabbi.
• Meeting people who read the media and are outraged over the discrimination against Israel that is everywhere they look.
I have been privileged to learn so much about Jewish life from this community. I learned not to take Israel for granted. I have a much better understanding now of why Israel is a home not just to its 8 million citizens, but also to millions of Jews around the world. Why it is so important that we keep these connections alive.
I have learned over the past few months that Judaism and “Israeliness” are not two separate things. And I think that in a way, there are many Israelis such as myself who are looking for a way to become more Jewish (and not necessarily observant). You can find evidences all around Israel, from the newly appointed Knesset members to the secular yeshivas. And after having all of these interesting and inspiring experiences, I must go back to Israel and engage in social change by tapping into Israeli society.
So why am I going back? Because Israel is my home and because I wish to join my friends and peers who want to make a change. Now, before it gets too late.
I believe that Israel is at a crucial state in its existence. We have built a true wonder in 65 years, a state and homeland we can all be proud to call our home. Israel is a leading country that has made and continues to make endless contributions to the world.
After accomplishing Zionism and its original intention, we are at a point where we must decide what we want our country to look like. How do we remain a Jewish and democratic state? How do we achieve true peace with our neighbors and within our borders?
We are on a long journey, and we are yet to see its end. My experiences as an emissary have taught me to keep my mind and heart open. But one thing I do know: being an emissary makes me want to keep fighting for a better and safer Israel, and I encourage you to do the same. I hope you will join me in continued support of Israel as a united Jewish peoplehood.
Ophir Hacohen is the fifth Israeli emissary for the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City since the program began here in 2003. The Jewish Federation hopes to welcome a new emissary to the community in the fall.
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