HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS TO PLAY HERE — I’ve always loved the Harlem Globetrotters and last week I found out that the founder of the Globetrotters was a Jewish man, Abe Saperstein. In celebration of the team’s 90th season, the Globetrotters will play two dates here at two event centers later this month. Sprint Center will host the team on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and another game will be played Sunday, Jan. 24, at the Independence Events Center.
On the court, the Globetrotters’ 90-year celebration will showcase incredible ball handling wizardry, rim-rattling dunks, trick shots, hilarious comedy and unequaled fan interaction. After the game, Globetrotter stars will sign autographs and take photos with fans.
Visit www.harlemglobetrotters.com/kc to learn more about the team and purchasing tickets.
CHECK OUT THIS WEB SERIES — Freelance filmmaker/writer/voice over artist Sam Passer is putting the finishing touches on a new eight-part Web series that he wrote, filmed and edited, called “2 Minute Celebrity Movie Talk.” Each video consists of cinematic criticism of a movie, an artist or a genre in the film industry. The format includes an interview conducted by Passer and a celebrity guest, also voiced by him, discussing the topic at hand. The first episode was uploaded last week and a new episode will be added for the next seven weeks. You can watch the series on his YouTube channel. To find the videos, go to YouTube.com and type in Sam Passer 2 minute celebrity movie talk.
Passer and his parents, Sandy and Steve Passer, are members of Congregation Ohev Sholom.
A SAD NOTE — Mori Weinstein, a 21-year-old Kansas University student who was among four young men who died over the Jan. 1 holiday weekend in a canoeing accident in Wisconsin, was Jewish. We don’t know all the activities he was involved in, but know he attended KU Chabad.
“We were so saddened to hear of the untimely passing our beloved fellow Jayhawk Mori Weinstein. It feels like yesterday that we were dancing together on the tables at the end of the Passover seder at KU Chabad,” said Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel.
He went on to say, “It is so hard for his dear family and many friends to go through such a big loss. As we know Judaism teaches us that only the physical body leaves us. The ‘neshamah’ (soul) lives on forever and ever. There is no doubt to all of us that the soul of our dear Mori Weinstein will always remain to be there with us, as he gazes upon all of his loved ones from heaven.”
HITLER’S ‘MEIN KAMPF’ BACK ON SALE IN GERMANY (JNS.org) — Copies of Adolf Hitler’s notorious “Mein Kampf” went on sale in Germany last week after the book’s copyright expired Jan. 1, meaning the work has entered the public domain.
A version of the book that was annotated by the Institute of Contemporary History of Munich is now on sale in the country for $65. The institute argues that the annotations will serve to place the book in the proper historical context by asking and remarking on such questions as, “How were his theses conceived? What objectives did he have? And most important: which counterarguments do we have, given our knowledge today of the countless claims, lies and assertions of Hitler?”
The president of Germany’s Jewish Council, Josef Schuster, told the NDR broadcaster that he welcomes the republication of the book because it could show how “completely wrong and ridiculous Hitler’s theories and theses were.”
But World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said, “‘Mein Kampf’ should have been properly studied 90 years ago. Hitler’s lies should have been rebutted back then. … Unlike other works that truly deserve to be republished as annotated editions, ‘Mein Kampf’ does not. Already, academics, historians, and the wider public have easy access to this text.”
