Saturday marks another grim anniversary for the disaster at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, marking 40 years since two of the 32-ton elevated walkways collapsed during an evening tea dance, resulting in 114 deaths and an additional 200 injuries.
Two members of the Jewish community are spending their summer months memorizing lines, singing songs, and practicing rigorous dance combinations as part of Theatre in the Park’s (TIP) production of the original Broadway-bound musical “Half Time - Gotta Dance.”
This past year, Strangers No More programs were held virtually and included such topics as symbols of Judaism and Christianity and intermarriage, and a series studying “The Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven,” by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine.
Ten high school students from across the metro region have been selected as finalists for KC SuperStar 2021. The top 10 were announced in a virtual live-streamed program featuring mini-performances by all 22 semifinalists.
Jewish Family Services will host its annual Friends of the Family event at noon on August 26. This year’s event will be virtual with table hosts inviting their family, friends, and colleagues to watch the online event and learn more about the important work JFS does in our community.
LOCAL AUTHOR PUBLISHES BOOK OF POEMS
Local author Tina Hacker has written a book, “Golems,’ featuring a popular figure from Jewish folklore—the golem. This intriguing creature has starred in novels, children’s books, short stories and individual poems. But Hacker’s book is possibly only the second poetry collection to showcase the golem and the first collection to introduce a colorful array of them.
Theater in the Park is teaming up with Jewish Family Services to help with its summer WipeOut campaign, securing toilet paper for its food pantry. Each month, more than 2,700 rolls of toilet paper are distributed to the 900 families the JFS food pantry serves from its two locations. Toilet paper and other personal hygiene products are not covered by government assistance.
Those wishing to participate in the Tisha B’Av community observances on Saturday and Sunday must register no later than 3:00 p.m. Friday. Register online at kcrabbi.org; click on the Tisha B’Av registration link found at the top of the home page. Links to connect via Zoom for each event will be sent in advance.
Marla Kaufman’s elder son is doing well these days, healthy and happy and working in his field.
But her son has walked a long and painful path to recovery from addiction, starting in the summer of 2006 at age 16. That’s when Kaufman and her husband, Joe, learned their son was “using substances in a dangerous way,” she said.
When Michael Beller set out three years ago to get a law passed in Arizona requiring Holocaust education in public schools, the response he got was clear.
