The premier speaker for the Interfaith Religious Literacy Center is Vanderbilt University New Testament Professor Amy-Jill Levine, who will be speaking at several venues in Kansas City about religious diversity and interfaith dialogue
The Sixth Annual Great Midwest Balloon Fest takes off at a new site this year, the Ag Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kansas, on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and Oct. 24.
ROYALS FEVER — As I write this, the Royals are still in the hunt for the American League crown. Last year South Korea’s Sung Woo was considered the Royals’ good luck charm, and a documentary about him recently aired on ESPN, “30 for 30 Shorts: #BringBackSungWoo.” Danny Parkins of 610 Sports Radio’s The Drive with Danny and CDot was featured in the documentary, which was produced by Josh Swade, who also has connections in the Kansas City Jewish community. The program can be viewed online at http://grantland.com/features/30-for-30-shorts-bringbacksungwoo/.
You can never accuse Adam Galblum of being stuck in one genre of music. The versatile and accomplished musician — with a classical music background — specializes in jazz violin and bluegrass fiddling.
Thanks to the family of the late George Lieberman, members of the community who are in mourning can now find books to help them through the grieving process in the Applebaum Synagogue at Village Shalom. The Lieberman Lending Library for Solace has been established to help those recently bereaved to begin to find solace and healing.
There are a lot of great movies about baseball. Now fans of baseball and films will not have to choose between a live baseball playoff game and a Jewish-themed movie during the next few weeks. In support of the American League Central Division Champion Kansas City Royals, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City has decided to postpone the 18th annual Kansas City Jewish Film Festival and move it to January and February 2016. The festival was to open Saturday, Oct. 10. While there is no American League Division Playoff game scheduled that day, several film festival dates conflict with possible Royals baseball games during the playoffs.
For those who enjoy Jewish films, Kansas City Jewish Film Festival Producer Shawn Edwards has three words for you: engaging, enlightening and entertaining. The festival, presented by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, The J, opens Saturday, Oct. 10, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 18.
Robert “Bobby” Epsten, a longtime supporter of the arts in greater Kansas City, has been asked to be the honorary chairman of ArtsKC — Regional Arts Council’s annual Inspiration Breakfast
A desire to do something remarkably simple, yet greatly meaningful, has turned into a fast growing non-profit organization that responds to a simple need of the breast cancer survivor: the gift of a free bra.
People make aliyah for a variety of reasons. When Lara Portnoy moved to the Jewish state in January 2013, it was very important to her to find a way to promote a better society there. For the past 10 months she has been doing just that, working in the External Relations and Development Department of the Peres Center for Peace. As we went to press this week, she was on her way to Kansas to spend some holiday time with her family and share a bit about the good works of the Peres Center. While she’s visiting she will speak at Kehilath Israel Synagogue on Sept. 26 during Shabbat services to a group of students at the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park and to at least one other private interfaith gathering.
