Ben Novorr has returned to Kansas as the new director of youth and family programming at Congregation Beth Shalom.
Novorr, originally from Lawrence, previously interned with KU Hillel and worked with Indiana University Hillel.
Among his many responsibilities as youth director, he oversees the Kansas City chapter of USY (the Conservative youth group for 6th through 12th graders), helps plan and run congregation-wide programs for young children and families, and teaches 3rd and 4th graders at the Polsky Religious School.
“I most look forward to forming strong, meaningful relationships and partnerships with the teens, kids, families, and all members of the Beth Shalom and Kansas City Jewish community,” Novorr said. “Through these relationships, I can’t wait to help the young people of our community develop, strengthen, and grow more confident in their Jewish identities. This is a responsibility that I take incredibly seriously and am quite honored to have.”
Novorr grew up in Lawrence and was not often exposed to Jewish life there outside of his family. He and his immediate family would go to Kansas City to celebrate major Jewish holidays with extended family, and he was driven from Lawrence to religious school at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah every Sunday.
“I had a small outlet where I could learn about being Jewish and be around other Jewish kids,” he said about religious school.
Back in Lawrence, he and his brother, Jon, were the only Jewish children they knew of in their public schools.
“In 7th grade, I faced antisemitism for the first time in my life, having another kid tell me the same Holocaust jokes every single day. Because I wasn’t surrounded by other Jewish kids, I had to face that situation on my own,” he said. “I didn’t really know what it was like to have Jewish peers that were going through the same types of things that I was.”
Novorr’s Jewish identity solidified as he studied and became a bar mitzvah. Shortly after his bar mitzvah, the family moved from Lawrence to Burke, Virginia, where he was exposed to a large community of Jews. There he had his confirmation, joined youth groups, and worked as a madrich (youth leader) at religious school.
“[Working as a madrich] not only connected me with Judaism, but it also gave me the opportunity to teach, which always ended up being the highlight of my week,” he said. “I would say that without a doubt, Jewish programs that I was a part of were the part of my high school experience that made the biggest impact on me.”
Novorr cites his grandfather, Larry Gelb, as “the person who really instilled the importance of being a part of Jewish life.” Gelb served terms as president at B'nai Jehudah, Congregation Kol Ami and Temple Sinai. In 2016, he was awarded a Presidential Citation by President Barack Obama for a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his 10,000 hours of community volunteer work. Gelb passed away in June, but his impact on Novorr’s Jewish identity is evident.
“I had never seen anyone as dedicated to Jewish life as he was, and it made me place an extra emphasis on it as well,” he said.
Novorr taught religious school while he was attending Johnson County Community College and set his sights on becoming a Jewish professional. When he transferred to the University of Kansas, he became heavily involved with KU Hillel. Having been told when he was young that he should “contribute more than you consume,” he volunteered and interned in various roles at KU Hillel that addressed Israel programming, freshman engagement and strategic planning.
“Some of my closest friends in the world were ones that I met through Hillel,” he said, “and I can say without a doubt that my college experience would not have been anywhere close to as amazing as it was without KU Hillel.”
After graduation, his experience at KU Hillel led him to a job at Indiana University Hillel. There, he learned more about mentor-student relationships on the job. One of his most meaningful takeaways from his time there was learning to be as authentic as possible.
“I found that I was able to form really strong and meaningful relationships with my students because I was my true and complete self with them,” he said. “I was fiercely loyal to them, but equally as vulnerable. Those relationships are ones that to this day are so strong, and I find myself talking to Indiana students on a daily basis because of this.”
Even though Novorr enjoyed his position at IU Hillel, after a year in Indiana he missed working with children, teenagers and families, and he missed Kansas City.
“When I first heard about the director of youth and family programming position that was open at Beth Shalom, I quite frankly was a bit shocked that such a perfect position was available, and immediately threw my hat in the ring because it truly checked every single one of the boxes that I was looking for,” he said.
Novorr’s vision and ideas regarding youth engagement “were in total alignment” with those of Beth Shalom’s Rabbi David Glickman and Executive Director Stefanie Misler Williams.
Since accepting the job, he has formed strong partnerships with KCUSY teen leaders. One of his early accomplishments was helping facilitate the teens’ newest initiative, “Second Saturdays,” which brings the USY youth together on the second Saturday of each month. September’s event was “S’mores and Sloach” and featured a livestreamed Havdalah, s’mores and a song session.
“To say that I am so incredibly proud of all their hard work would be such an understatement,” Novorr said.
Novorr is passionate about his community, and is excited to be back in Kansas City.
“The Kansas City Jewish community set me on the path to living a Jewish life and becoming a Jewish professional,” he said. “I find myself both honored and humbled to not just be working to help strengthen a great Jewish community, but to be working to help strengthen [specifically] my Jewish community. I sure hope to make the Kansas City Jewish community proud.”