Speaker's Corner

The lead story of the July 21 edition of your paper discusses conversion under the auspices of the Reform Movement.

One of Eliana’s current favorite activities is to cut colored construction paper into pieces and then glue those pieces back together. The first time she did it, I was very confused. I almost stopped her. Then I realized she was taking something plain and turning it into something even more beautiful. After watching her do this a few times, she reminded me that sometimes we need to break something apart before we can make it whole again. This action is exactly what we are all doing as we prepare to enter the High Holy Days.

Achrayut… Responsibility…

I decided to write about the middah of taking responsibility after reading and listening to reports on the rise in the number of cases of the Delta variant. This news has been, and continues to be, alarming and frightening.

As smallpox ravaged Europe in the 16th century, Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, a prominent rabbi and famed kabbalist, grew exasperated with his community’s unwillingness to show sufficient caution in the face of the disease.

Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s local allocations process is an intensive, deep dive into our local programs that are requesting financial support. The financial contributions made to the annual campaign support this venture.

Editor’s note: The following is reprinted from a recent email sent by Rabbi Sarah Smiley to the B’nai Jehudah community.

Who would have believed that re-entry into the workforce would be something we are grappling with today. Fifteen months out of the office, working virtually, and all of our interactions via Zoom became the way of doing business since the onset of the pandemic in March of last year. Now, we are changing the way we work again – going back to the office in a hybrid model.

Editor’s note: This is republished from a message that Tilove shared with the HBHA community on May 14.

Editor’s note: The following is reprinted from Adam Tilove’s April 23 weekly email to the HBHA community.

Editor’s note: Brian Platt, the new city manager in Kansas City, Missouri, is Jewish, and his wife has deep ties to the local Jewish community. The Chronicle asked Platt to reflect on his early days in his new position.