“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children — one of those is roots, the other, wings.”
— Hodding Carter

Often, the most significant things — the treasures that surround us — come into focus only when pointed out by others or by a camera!

Case in point: Meet “Grandma” Sonia.

Sonia Warshawski, 86 years young, may just be one of Kansas City’s most popular Jewish personalities. She’s often recognized on the street by clients of her tailoring shop (Marilyn Maye is a loyal fan) which is tucked into a basement corner at Metcalf South Shopping Center. Her culinary prowess for creating annual holiday specialties is lauded by friends and family. Her indefatigable energy for shopping — and schmoozing — is legendary.

Lately, however, Sonia has added a more personal, powerful and public feather to her cap. She and daughter Regina Kort have been visiting local middle/high schools, churches and other organizations to share the heartfelt, horrific stories of Sonia’s teenage years spent in the Majdanek and Auschwitz concentration camps. For future generations, Sonia has said, it’s a way of giving back and never forgetting.

Enter: Granddaughter Leah.

Based in Seattle, 33-year-old Leah Warshawski, with partner and fiancé Todd Soliday, are freelance producers/directors whose clients include Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, National Geographic and television shows such as “Lost.” (The team is currently working on a documentary about the “Hillywood” Film Festival in Rwanda.)

Growing up (mostly) in St. Louis, Leah saw her extended family frequently, but it was a pilgrimage to Sonia’s 85th birthday celebration in Kansas City that inspired her to begin filming the story of the woman she calls “her hero.”

“Everyone in our family (including Sonia) has always felt that she needs her own show. Funders and audiences are looking for ‘character-driven’ documentaries, and Sonia is one of the most interesting characters I know. I have always wanted to do this but now we have a limited window while Sonia is still healthy and strong enough to go into work every day,” Leah said.

“I’ve not been impressed with recent documentaries about the Holocaust and survivors. I feel it’s time to make a different film that younger generations can relate to. What is out there now — at least for educators — is very clinical. Why not make something that makes you laugh and want to be a better person after you’ve watched it?” she continued.

Ironically, Leah’s maternal/paternal grandparents did not willingly elaborate on their Holocaust experiences until the late 1970s when the floodgates — and memories — were unlocked through audio recordings of seven family member survivors (parents, in-laws, aunts and uncles). The interviews, shepherded over three years by Sonia’s son, Morrie, serve as stark and chilling testaments to the power of the human spirit.

“As a parent, I wasn’t sure at the time if any of the family history was truly ‘sinking in’ with our two young daughters. Now, with a film in tow, I realize I should have known better!” Morrie said.

“I think my Mom thinks we were not paying attention, but we were,” said Leah. “When I was 12, I transcribed some of the oral histories — that was my first time listening to the stories of Sonia and John (Warshawski). The strange thing is I feel like people in our family really didn’t want to talk about it. I’m sure it was too painful, so we got little glimpses of it but never any of the full stories. Or maybe I just never asked. Maybe I was too scared to know the full story.”

“It’s different hearing the stories as an adult. You look at this tiny woman and listen to what she went through — and the details — and it’s hard. It always makes me think about Dad and how it must have been difficult to grow up with parents who survived. I hope that we can do justice to Sonia by making a film about her. We also want to make sure that her stories are not forgotten, and film seems to be the best way to do that for now,” Leah said.

Filming, editing and most important, securing the necessary funds, is slated to take approximately two years to complete. Footage from two of five scheduled trips to Kansas City, including one just last week, is in the can. The documentary is estimated to cost $500,000 and is targeted to high-end media markets such as HBO and PBS.

“Our film is a personal, tragic and timely documentary profiling a unique character from a dying generation,” said Leah.

“Standing tall at 4 feet 8 inches, Sonia is the only local survivor who is still speaking to groups on a regular basis. Her enormous personality and fragile frame masks the horrors she once endured. At age 15, she watched her mother disappear behind gas chamber doors. Her teenage years were a blur of concentration camps and death marches. On liberation day, she was shot through the chest but miraculously survived. Her story has become her purpose.”

“Grandma Sonia is the ultimate survivor, a bridge between cultures and generations. Our film interweaves her past and present life using first-person narrative and stories from her family and friends — full of humor, love and what we affectionately call ‘Sonia-isms.’ Along the way, we learn valuable life lessons from a woman you can barely see over the steering wheel, yet insists on driving herself to work,” Leah said.

“Her story must never be forgotten.”

For more information about the film, email Leah at .

Evy Simon Warshawski is a performing arts consultant and arts writer based in Napa, Calif. She met her husband, Morrie, in Kansas City when they both were members of AZA and BBG. They will soon celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary.

Rabbi Vered Harris, Congregation Beth Torah’s education rabbi, will become the pulpit rabbi of Congregation Temple B’nai Israel in Oklahoma City on July 1. Rabbi Harris informed the congregation in the summer of 2011 that she would be making a change.

Last month Beth Torah announced the hiring of Rebecca Reice, who will be ordained in May, as the congregation’s new education rabbi.

Rabbi Harris came to Beth Torah in the summer of 2000, immediately following her ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. She also earned her Master of Arts degree in Jewish education in 1998 from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education, and was awarded the title of Reform Jewish Educator in 2002.

Temple B’nai Israel is a Reform congregation with approximately 300 households. It is the only Reform congregation in Oklahoma City and is the larger of the two synagogues in town.

“It is a warm and inviting congregation, with a dedicated staff and friendly, enthusiastic, volunteer-minded membership. Their invitation to elect me as their next spiritual leader is an honor, and I look forward to the challenges and blessings to come,” Rabbi Harris said when the news became official last month.

Beth Torah’s Rabbi Mark Levin said Rabbi Harris has been at the congregation for more than half its life and made an “inestimable contribution” to it as well as the larger Kansas City Jewish community.

“She will be missed greatly, but we are very pleased to see her move on to being able to lead a congregation and bring all her many talents to another Jewish community,” Rabbi Levin said.

Oklahoma City’s B’nai Israel, which was founded in 1903, is a congregation that has had steady rabbinical leadership. Rabbi Harris will be only the fifth rabbi in the congregation’s history, and in its first 100 years the congregation had just three rabbis serving it with no lapse in rabbinical leadership.

“Their tradition of long tenures reflects the stability of the congregation and their history of healthy relations with the rabbi,” Rabbi Harris said.

Serving as the congregation’s only rabbi will be a new experience for Rabbi Harris, and one she is looking forward to.

“I’ll get to have more one-on-one relationships based on congregants’ varied interests and spiritual journeys, as well as do more pastoral counseling and life-cycle events,” she explained.

“I’m looking forward to more interfaith work, to being present in the larger faith and secular communities as a voice of Judaism, to exploring the social justice and educational opportunities in a new city, to getting to lead services and lead the religious cycle of a congregation … lots of rabbinical “fun stuff” that is different than what I’ve done at Beth Torah,” the rabbi continued.

As Beth Torah’s education rabbi, her schedule revolved around midweek Hebrew school, TAG for older students and religious school on Sunday. Her new position will bring with it a shift in her priorities.

“I’m looking forward to the rhythm of Shabbat and readjusting so that my calendar is more centered around Shabbat, life-cycle and pastoral care,” Rabbi Harris said.

While the rabbi usually has a say in the educational life of her congregation, Rabbi Harris will no longer be making curricular or faculty decisions at Temple B’nai Israel. In fact, B’nai Israel has two educators on staff. One is a part-time midweek Hebrew school director. The other is the full-time director of the Inter-Congregational Sunday School, a joint effort of B’nai Israel and the Conservative Emanuel Synagogue.

“One of the many fun connections between the Kansas City and Oklahoma City Jewish communities is that before she went to rabbinical school Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner (assistant rabbi at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah) served as the educator in Oklahoma City who first brought together the synagogue and the temple for the ICSS,” Rabbi Harris noted.

Rabbi Harris said it is very bittersweet for her family — she and husband Benjamin have three daughters — to leave Beth Torah and the Kansas City Jewish community.

“The fact that all three of our girls were born here gives us ties to the community in a way that we never could have anticipated. We are surrounded by people who have watched our daughters grow, who love our children and who have helped us to raise them. That’s really hard to lose,” she said.

Rabbi Harris is no stranger to moving and in her lifetime has lived in California, Israel, Germany and Ohio before settling in Kansas. So she is excited for her children to experience things people learn by moving.

“I learned a lot from the moves that I had to make. I think it contributed to my resiliency as an adult and to me having a wider perspective on the world. I’m very excited for them to see the world through different eyes. It will be great for them to make new friends and to learn what they can do in a new setting. But it’s tough. It’s exciting and challenging at the same time,” Rabbi Harris said.

She is grateful that the Harris family has already been welcomed by B’nai Israel with open arms.

“Each of the older girls has already met somebody who will be in their grade in their new schools. They’ve already met adults who have embraced them and welcomed them. While we’re leaving an amazing community here, we also feel like we are walking into arms wide open, welcoming our family,” she said.

Say shalom to Rabbi Harris

Congregation Beth Torah is planning a weekend of events Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2, to give the congregation and the community the chance to wish Rabbi Vered Harris luck in her new position in Oklahoma City.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m. erev Shabbat, June 1, with a nosh honoring Rabbi Harris. It will be sponsored by the Beth Torah board of trustees. Shabbat worship services follow at 6:30 p.m. and the celebration will continue with the Oneg following worship.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, June 2, a Women’s Havdalah Mini-Retreat: Listen to Our Voices will take place at Beth Torah. Dessert will be served. RSVP to Maureen Salz at .

To honor Rabbi Harris, a special poetry collection in the Beth Torah library will be created. Donations are needed to help stock the shelves with poetry books. Checks should be made out to Congregation Beth Torah; note that the donation is for the poetry collection.

In August 2011, Tom Patterson, a member of Congregation Beth Torah, lost his very brief and difficult battle with pancreatic cancer. In an effort to help others in Patterson’s family — his wife Wynne Begun and his children Mallary Smith and Michael Patterson — created PanCURE, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness of pancreatic cancer and raising funds for pancreatic cancer research in hopes of finding a cure for the disease.

PanCURE’s first fundraising event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, April 29. JazzBEATS will provide a sampling of Kansas City’s world class jazz and trendy food scenes. The event will be held at the Just Off Broadway Theatre, located at 3051 Central Street in Kansas City, Mo. Renowned jazz performers Hermon Mehari & Diverse, The Joe Cartwright & Duck Warner Duo and Millie Edwards & Michael Pagán will perform. Tickets are available at www.pan-cure.org or by calling 913-327-8245. Donations are also being accepted and can be made through the website or by calling 913-327-8245.

Finding a cure

Begun is heading this organization and the fundraiser because she firmly believes “somewhere right now there is researcher that is on the verge of changing the course of this disease.”

The average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastatic pancreatic cancer is just five to seven month. Begun said Patterson battled the disease for only five months before he lost the fight. During his illness and following his death eight months ago, she has learned a lot about Pancreatic Cancer. Though pancreatic cancer is relatively rare, it remains the fourth leading cause of cancer death. Of the 44,000 patients diagnosed this year, only 6 percent will live for five more years.

Begun said she has learned the reason pancreatic cancer is so deadly is because it is very hard to detect and there are currently no screening tests available. Once most of the symptoms appear, the disease has progressed too far to be cured.

Some of what Begun has learned surprised her, especially the number of Jews who have been affected by the disease. Jews of Ashkenazi descent have a higher incidence of pancreatic cancer than the general population due to mutations that can occur within the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

Although many Jews are familiar with the relationship of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations to breast and ovarian cancer, scientists at Johns Hopkins are currently researching these genetic links to pancreatic cancer. They have found that Ashkenazi Jews who harbor a BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation may have a 10-fold increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Other hereditary syndromes can contribute to increased risk for pancreatic cancer as well. Those include hereditary pancreatitis, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, familial malignant melanoma and pancreatic cancer (FAMM-PC) and Lynch syndrome. In addition to the genetic syndromes life-style factors such as smoking and high fat in the diet appear to contribute to the development of the disease.

If a person has a first-degree relative with pancreatic cancer, his or her risk of developing the disease is much higher than the average person’s risk. The National Institutes of Health estimates that the risk of developing pancreatic cancer is increased four to five times for a person with one first-degree relative with pancreatic cancer, six to seven times for a person with two first-degree relatives, and 32 times for a person with three first-degree relatives with the disease.

Begun also discovered that the statistics for pancreatic cancer survival have not changed over the past 25 years while the breast cancer survival rate has steadily improved.

“The estimated five-year survival rate for breast cancer is about 88.5 percent, compared to the overall rate of 6 percent for pancreatic cancer patients. Significantly less research funding is available for early detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer,” said Begun, who also serves as education and outreach coordinator of the local affiliate of Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Network. Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Network is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit whose mission is to provide education, advocacy and patient support for everyone diagnosed with the disease.

She noted that the overall incidence of pancreatic cancer is much lower than that of breast cancer — 44,000 cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed each year, compared to 215,000 breast cancer diagnoses. That means that there are fewer survivors to advocate for more funding.

“Early detection may be difficult because symptoms often do not appear until the disease is advanced. According to the Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Network, the search for the cure for pancreatic cancer is about where breast cancer was in the 1930s and the major deterrent is the low level of funding,” Begun said.

Patterson was a Jew by choice and did not carry the genetic mutation. But it’s still important to Begun that Jewish people become more aware of their risks for pancreatic cancer.

“The alarming statistics and the higher incidence in the Ashkenazi Jewish population means Jews must understand this disease and advocate for early detection, research and effective treatment options,” she said.

That’s also one reason Begun chose to raise funds to support pancreatic cancer research.

“Tom believed his only hope for survival was research. He truly felt that the key to this disease could be found. We lost Tom but we are committed to raising funds and creating hope for those who will face the diagnosis,” she said.

All the donations and net proceeds from PanCURE’s JazzBEATS fundraiser are being managed locally by the Jewish Community Foundation and will be forwarded to Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Network.

Kansas City, Kan., native Ed Asner will be inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame on June 15 in a ceremony at the Great Overland Station in Topeka. Wichita native Jim Lehrer, executive editor of the PBS Newshour, will serve as master of ceremonies.

That same weekend Asner will also perform his one-man show “FDR” at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 17, at the White Theatre on the Jewish Community Campus in a benefit for Friends of Sheffield.

Others being inducted as laureates in the Kansas Hall of Fame this year include George Washington Carver; Nancy Kassebaum Baker; Cyrus K. Holliday; William Allen White; The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway; and Alfred “Alf” Mossman Landon.

Asner became a beloved addition to millions of households through his character, Lou Grant. First on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” and then as the star of the spinoff “Lou Grant Show,” Asner’s cantankerous newsman possessed courage and integrity. He is the only actor to have won an Emmy in both drama and comedy for the same character. He has, in fact, earned six Emmys — more than any other actor — and five Golden Globes. Today’s generation will recognize him as the voice of Carl Frederickson in the 2009 Disney Pixar animation UP, which was the first animated and 3D film to open the famed Cannes Film Festival 2009, and won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2010.  A graduate of Wyandotte High School, Ed, now 82, maintains close ties to his Kansas roots. He has served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and is an outspoken advocate for many causes, often championing the disenfranchised.

Beth Fager, Hall of Fame coordinator, said the Kansas Hall of Fame was started as a way to honor great Kansans and to share their achievements and values with people across the nation.

The gala event features a cocktail reception, dinner, program and entertainment. For ticket information, call the Great Overland Station at 785-232-5533.

A ‘TODAY’ STAR — Susan Stiffelman, who grew up in Kansas City and now lives in Malibu, Calif., was interviewed on NBC’s “Today” on March 15. Her book, “Parenting Without Power Struggles” was republished by Simon & Schuster, and was just released. Susan, the daughter of Lorraine and Lester Stiffelman, was confirmed at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah and is a graduate of Shawnee Mission East. She has been to Kansas City many times for presentations, including two well-attended seminars for Jewish Family Services and one for the preschool teachers at Beth Shalom’s Rose Family Early Childhood Education Center last spring.

SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY — This coming week is an exceptionally busy week for citywide activities. The first is the annual Yom HaShoah memorial service Sunday, April 22, at the Lewis and Shirley White Theatre at the Jewish Community Campus. This year’s service commemorates the 69th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and the 49th anniversary of the dedication of Kansas City’s Memorial to the Six Million. This moving service begins at 1:30 p.m.

Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s memorial day honoring fallen Israeli soldiers and civilians, is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24 at the White Theatre. Israeli Officer Oren Zini, who is currently studying in Leavenworth, Kan., will speak about the significance of Yom HaZikaron and about his experiences in the Israel Defense Forces. Prior to the service, which is free and open to the community, the movie “Beaufort” will be shown in Conference Room C at the Jewish Community Campus.

Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, falls this year on Thursday, April 26. It will be celebrated from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Congregation Beth Shalom at 143rd and Lamar. The communitywide event features children’s activities, Israeli food and entertainment, and is free. Food is available for a nominal fee.

All these events are free and open to the community and each is important and significant to the community in a number of ways. I know being out three times in one week is a struggle for me personally, but I urge you to do your best to make it to as many of these events as you can.

WICHITA TORNADO RELIEF —Destruction from tornadoes that struck Wichita and the surrounding area last weekend has prompted an outpouring of support from Jewish Federations and concern from Jews around the country. The Mid-Kansas Jewish Federation has opened the Wichita Area Tornado Relief Fund to provide emergency funding to the victims of the tornadoes on April 14.

Tornadoes destroyed many homes and businesses throughout Kansas with Wichita being the hardest hit. the tornado destroyed about 100 homes in the Oaklawn area before damaging more homes as it moved out of town. While no one died in Kansas, many will need help rebuilding after losing everything.

According to the MKJF, neither of the two synagogues in Wichita were damaged by the tornado.

The MKJF will be working with the Salvation Army in the rebuilding efforts. To help, tax-deductible donations can be made securely through the website, mkjf.org (make sure to enter “Wichita Area Tornado Relief” in the designation box) or mail a donation to The MKJF, Attn: Wichita Area Tornado Relief Fund, 400 N. Woodlawn Ste. 8, Wichita, KS 67208. This fund will be open through May 15.

HONOR THY MOTHER — Jewish Women International (JWI) is once again honoring the 30,000 women spending Mother’s Day, which is Sunday, May 13, in battered women’s shelters through its Mother’s Day Flower Project. JWI’s Mother’s Day Flower Project delivers hope — both in the bouquets and beauty products JWI sends to 200 shelters across the United States on this special day, and through initiatives, supported by Flower Project proceeds, that work every day to educate communities, empower women and break the cycle of abuse. More than 70 synagogues and organizations have signed on to help raise awareness and funds for this important cause. OPI Products, Inc. is joining JWI this year in delivering bouquets and beauty products to the shelters. For each $25 contribution to the project, JWI will send a Mother’s Day card to any woman the donor chooses, thanking her for the inspiration to help women in need. This year’s card features original artwork created for the 2012 Flower Project by artist, author and illustrator Connie G. Krupin. To learn more about this project, or to make a donation and send a card, visit www.jwi.org/fp or call 800-343-2823.

Mary Davidson Cohen lives by the philosophy that as Jews, we should do whatever we can to repair our world as best we can.

“If I can help a little bit, I feel like it is my responsibility as a person who has been very fortunate in life to do that,” Cohen said in a recent interview.

On May 11 Cohen will be honored as 2012 Philanthropist of the Year at the 28th Annual Philanthropy Awards Luncheon presented by Nonprofit Connect. This is the first time since Norman and Elaine Polsky were honored in 2002 that a Jewish philanthropist is receiving this honor.

Cohen serves as executive director of the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust. She is very honored and humbled to be recognized as Philanthropist of the Year.

“The truth is there are three of us that are being honored: my father-in-law Joseph Cohen, my husband Barton P. Cohen and me. I’m the steward of the money. It’s a wonderful, wonderful position to be in and a real responsibility to see to it that the money goes where they would want it to go and where I know it should go and where the community needs it”

“There are a lot of people out there that do wonderful things and it’s an honor that they chose the Cohen Charitable Trust and me to honor,” she continued.

The Cohen trust was formed in 2007 following the sale of Metcalf Bank. As executive director, Cohen makes all the grant decisions within the parameters of Bart Cohen’s will. Financial professionals invest the money and take care of all accounting responsibilities.

Cohen brings to philanthropy the wisdom of her lifelong career in education, which she began as a teacher in the Kansas City (Mo.) Public Schools. Through the years, she has produced and appeared in films to teach science, served as vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Kansas Regents Center, assistant director of the William T. Kemper Foundation, vice president for adult and continuing education and dean of the graduate school at Saint Mary University in Leavenworth and, from 2002 to 2007 as the regional representative for the Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Education.

The Cohen Trust makes grants in support of the arts, education, history, libraries, social justice and religious organizations for programs that continue the Cohens’ commitment to bettering the communities to which they belonged.

As an educator, it’s not surprising that first grant Cohen made was to the Children’s Campus of Kansas City, located in Kansas City, Kan. Incorporated in 2004, the mission of CCKC is to assure that children birth to 5 years of age who are most at risk for academic failure access the resources they need to succeed in school and life.

Cohen explains CCKC as a preschool owned and operated by the University of Kansas serving the economically depressed population of Wyandotte County.

“The kids are so cute,” she said. “They take 132. The bad news is there are 5,000 children in that area who are eligible for services. The good part is you can give children a better chance in life 132 at a time.”

Cohen is most proud of a grant she made to the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law which honors her father, Julian K. Davidson.

“It’s the one grant that Bart and I talked about for a number of years if he ever sold the bank and established the charitable trust,” she explained.

Julian K. Davidson graduated in 1905 from the old Kansas City School of Law. In those days a law degree was an undergraduate degree, but he continued his studies at the University of Michigan. The 10-year-grant covers the tuition and other miscellaneous costs of three law students known as Davidson scholars. Two are enrolled now and the third will enroll in the fall of 2012.

“I think that Jews feel that we are best remembered by what we’ve done on earth and the good that we leave behind us. I know that my father would be absolutely so pleased with that scholarship that allows young people to attend school that otherwise might not have that opportunity. He would be most pleased because his name will always be at the law school,” Cohen said.

The Philanthropist of the Year honor is being presented to Cohen in recognition of grants given primarily to organizations in the general community. A different fund, established following Bart Cohen’s death in 2006, provided several substantial grants to organizations in the Jewish community under the name of the Margaret and Joseph Cohen Trust.

“The income from that does wonderful things in the Jewish community,” Cohen said. “I think it is most important for us as Jews to understand that if we don’t help our own, nobody is going to.”

“It always makes me feel good to know that Bart’s parents are memorialized and I know that good things are done that help all of us. If one of us is helped, all of us are helped. That to me is really the bottom line,” Cohen said.

While the Cohen trust gives primarily to secular causes, Cohen said she has presented a few supplemental grants to Jewish communal organizations.

“For example, Jewish Family Services does wonderful things, particularly for the elderly,” Cohen said. “Jewish causes are always good social causes and most of them offer direct services to our Jewish community whether it is here or throughout the world. Therefore we have an obligation to see to it that our fellow Jews are taken care of as well as we can possibly see to it. Those grants are very important as well.”

Cohen has also given money to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, to be used in the restoration of the Jewish section of Elmwood Cemetery.

“The history of the old Jewish community is in Section H, the Jewish section,” she said. “I want to be sure that Section H is kept up. Hopefully what we do in the Jewish section will encourage other people to adopt sections of the cemetery and make it something lovely and help the whole neighborhood. The history of Kansas City is in Elmwood Cemetery.”

Cohen also volunteers on various boards throughout the community. She is chairman of the board of the World War I Museum.

“I think that the World War I Museum is an amenity not only to this community but to the whole world. The collection there is without equal,” she said. Cohen believes it is important to the Kansas City community to pull all amenities together to make more of an economic attraction for tourists.

“I think the economic impact of all these amenities like, the World War I Museum and the new aquarium at Crown Center and the Nelson gallery and the Kemper Museum, … are terrific. If we can do something to encourage people to come and visit them, then we should do it. I feel we all have a responsibility to our community, in whatever pieces that may touch our lives.”

What would you do if doctors told you at the age of 9 you would be lucky to celebrate your 18th birthday? First it made Shelly Weiner Maguire angry and defiant. Then it motivated her to push herself to the limit and stop at nothing to reach her goals to be a successful businesswoman and live a long life. Now 51, Maguire has recently written about her struggles and successes in “Dancing in the Storm.”

She was actually approached by the publisher to write the book, along with co-author Beth Huffman.

“They found my story of growing up with Cystic Fibrosis, my life challenges and determination to be inspiring and they asked me to share my life story,” Maguire said.

Maguire is a Kansas City native and the daughter of Felicia and Seymour Weiner. She grew up attending Kehilath Israel Synagogue, where her parents are still members. The book follows her quest to survive Cystic Fibrosis, the lethal disease that invaded Maguire’s lungs at birth but wasn’t diagnosed until she was 9 years old.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 70,000 children and adults worldwide. A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.

Readers will learn about Maguire’s fearless journey that takes her from the role of class clown to that of an entrepreneur, TV personality, radio host and prominent skin care developer who appears regularly on HSN. A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and other children’s charities. It is currently available through the publisher, www.stanleypublishing.com and will soon be available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

“The book is a lesson in stepping through barriers and around boundaries to achieve life’s goals. This book will serve as an inspirational tool for everyone as it is written through the eyes of an angry adolescent, a rebellious teen and now a success-oriented mature adult,” Maguire said.

“I want to reach, inspire and help others who face their own life challenges — not just CF.”

Maguire truly believes the disease has affected her in a positive way.

“It has made me more ambitious. It’s made me stubborn in a good way. It’s kept me from ever believing in the words no or can’t. I just don’t believe in those words. It’s made me really persevere. I’ve pushed the limits to prove that I can succeed,” she said.

Many people who knew Maguire when she was young never knew she had Cystic Fibrosis. She had made a conscious decision to keep that fact to herself.

“I was so afraid of growing up different and being ostracized for being different and just not fitting in that I hid my disease until I was 25 or 30 years old. I just didn’t come to terms with it.”

“Life was tough enough. I was overweight as a child. Even being Jewish made you different and this was just one more thing I couldn’t add into the pot. So I hid my disease,” she explained.

Maguire said as she got older she figured out the disease is something that really defined her life in a good way.

“I realized how much it’s driven me to be a better person. And the more that I’ve worn it as a badge of honor or courage, the more I’m finding I’m actually touching other people’s lives,” she said. “In fact, all the things I wanted to hide from when I was younger — being different — are the very things I want to share with everyone now.”

As a child Maguire was told she would be lucky to live until she was 18. Now the average life expectancy for CF patients is 37. Maguire attributes her longevity to taking very good care of herself. That includes staying fit, progressive medications and a good mental attitude.

“Cystic Fibrosis is literally a daily struggle because it affects so many organs in your body,” she explained.
She firmly believes in being active, both mentally and physically.

“So much of it is really making that mental step saying that I’m going to do everything I have to do to get around these obstacles and get through these boundaries and challenge myself with little victories every day. I really look at ways to set goals and set victories for myself,” she said.

Maguire goes to the gym often, and said her friends and family frequently give her trouble for being so busy and active. Her doctor is not one of those people.

“My doctor says whatever I’m doing I should keep doing because I think it’s that part of it that keeps me from feeling depressed and focusing on how bad life is versus focusing on how lucky I am,” said Maguire, who lives in Naples, Fla. She and her husband Frankie Tedesco have been together more than 10 years and married for one.

Maguire is admitted to the hospital many times a year. Even when she’s in the hospital she tries to stay as physically active as possible. Most of the time that means dragging her IV pole along with her.

“I’ll ask to go outside and run or take a walk or I’ll ask to go to physical therapy,” she said. “I’m very dedicated to running every day even when I’m sick with IVs in my arms.”

It only took Maguire a few short months to write the book, and she found the process really interesting. She still had her old diary that helped her remember what she did and thought as an angry adolescent and as a very belligerent and obstinate teenager.

“I went through that angry and denial stage then, and now as a mature adult the position and the focus I have that I think dealing with these obstacles has really enhanced my life. I don’t really know what I would be or who I would be without facing these obstacles,” she said.

While the book is about the serious issue of battling CF, that’s not the only focus.

“It’s really about dealing with obstacles and diseases and business,” she said. “There’s humor, there’s sadness and grief, and it even touches on the love story between me and Frankie.”

Last year, when the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy freshmen went on their trip to Israel, they stayed with host families from Kansas City’s sister region of Gezer, in central Israel. On Wednesday, March 28, the Israeli teens that housed the HBHA students last year flew to Kansas to stay with their HBHA friends until Saturday morning, March 31.

HBHA Hebrew teacher Danny Altshull, who lived in Israel and served in the Israeli navy, said the Israeli kids did a lot in a few short days. Those activities included volunteering alongside HBHA students at Mitzvah Day, shadowing the sophomore students throughout the school day, watching the girls’ first soccer game of the season and attending Taste of Shabbat. The teens’ itinerary also included a visit to the Arabia Steamboat Museum at the River Market.

The Israeli kids were brought to Kansas City by the Jewish Federation, who thought that they should get a taste of America. Since the Israelis housed the HBHA students last year, the Jewish Federation thought that HBHA students should return the favor, which they were more than happy to do.

Gal Sugbeker, one of the visitors from Gezer, said, “I am very excited to be here. The school is a lot bigger here, which was surprising, but the people are not so different than they are in Israel.”

Noa Dikman, another Israeli visitor, agreed with Sugbeker and added, “The education is very different from our school in Israel.”
Prior to Lady Rams’ first soccer game of the season against Southwest High School, the teens tailgated and then cheered the team on after the game began. Following the game Noy Bertish said, “The girls soccer game was very impressive, and the energy of the crowd was exciting.”

After the Israeli teens left Kansas City, they spent two days in New York City and then traveled to Madrid, Spain. All of the Israeli visitors said that they had a wonderful time, learned a lot, and will not forget their experience in Kansas City and in the United States.

This article was originally published in the March 30 edition of The Academy Voice, the student newspaper of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.

COLLEGIATE PASSOVER — We hear Jewish experts from all over the country tell us that young adults are not affiliating with the organized Jewish community. That may be true, but we know of at least two organizations on the University of Kansas campus that are working hard to keep college students interested in the religion and participating in the Jewish community and doing a darn good job of it. Both KU Hillel and The Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Life held Passover seders last week for those who couldn’t make it home or to a friend’s home for seder. KU Hillel hosted 60 students at a second seder Saturday night. Chabad at KU hosted 70 people Friday and Saturday evenings for seders (though not all students). During this Passover week, Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel said another 20 to 30 students were expected to participate in a meal plan offered by Chabad and about 60 students are expected to attend a Shabbat/Passover meal tomorrow night. We know of other seders that were open to the community here in KC also, and we thank them all for providing this hospitality. But we especially applaud those who are working so hard to engage our next generation of leaders! Yasher koach!

MOURNING MIKE WALLACE — Like many journalists, we were saddened to hear about the death of Mike Wallace last weekend. Former Chronicle Editor Ruth Baum Bigus was lucky enough to snag the “60-Minutes” star for a telephone interview in 1990. At the time Wallace, who was born Myron Leon “Mike” Wallace to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in 1918, was promoting a special highlighting his 40-year career in journalism. He told Bigus that his favorite interview undoubtedly was Vladimir Horowitz, “… he was such a charmer and such a genius at what he did.” Although Wallace hadn’t been well enough to appear on “60 Minutes” in quite some time, we will indeed miss his presence.

HEADS UP FOR PLGA — The teachers and families of Beth Shalom’s Rose Family Early Childhood Education Center are organizing a fundraiser for 3-year-old Finnegan O’Keefe, a student in the class taught by Miss Julie Kadosh and Miss Connie Simon. Finnegan was diagnosed with a PLGA (pediatric low grade astrocytoma brain stem tumor) in November 2011. Stefanie Williams, who has a child in Finnegan’s class, said Finnegan’s teachers knew they had to do something to help this sweet boy, so they decided to plan an amazing event that could help to raise the funds needed to find a cure and give him a future.
So the teachers at the Jewish preschool are planning a fundraiser to be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish located at 142nd and Nall Avenue. The HEADS UP for PLGA will benefit the PLGA Foundation. The afternoon will include lots of fun activities for small children, a silent auction and will feature local musicians Funky Mama, Mr. Stinky Feet, Dino O’Dell and the wacky duo Laughing Matters!!

Admission for children 3 and over will be $10, 2 and under are free. For more information, to make a donation or to become a sponsor, visit headsupforplga.shutterfly.com or Heads Up for PLGA on Facebook. In addition, “Team Fighting Finnegan” yellow bracelets are available in the preschool school office for $1!

FINDING YOUR ROOTS ON PBS — An hour-long episode of the new PBS series “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.” scheduled to air Sunday, April 15, features Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, the senior cantor of New York City’s Central Synagogue. Rabbi Buchdahl, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, digs deeper into her mixed heritage and ancestry in the episode. The episode also features Pastor Rick Warren and Sheikh Yasir Qadhi. In it the “Finding Your Roots” research teams unearth a story about the spiritual foundations of America and the long, sometimes painful, struggle to achieve religious freedom and tolerance. The episode also uncovers the difficulties religious leaders and their ancestors experienced holding onto their faith while still feeling like an “authentic” American. The episode is scheduled to air locally at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 15, on KCPT.

QUALITY HILL REVUE TO DAZZLE AUDIENCES — Three exceptional actor/singers pay tribute to the musical team that has razzle dazzled audiences since the 1960s in the cabaret revue “Life Is a Cabaret: The Songs of Kander and Ebb,” opening April 20 at Quality Hill Playhouse. Kansas City native Kander is Jewish and so was Ebb, who died in 2004. Their sleek, sexy and sophisticated style translated such gritty subjects as pre-Hitler Germany, decadent 1920s America and a prison cell in a South American police state into successful Broadway musicals (“Cabaret,” 1966; “Chicago,” 1975; “Kiss of the Spiderwoman,” 1993; respectively). Director and arranger J. Kent Barnhart has designed the show to give audiences an appreciation of the duo’s remarkable career by selecting material from across their five-decade partnership, including their first song written together (“My Coloring Book” in 1962); songs from their last projects together (“Steel Pier,” 1997; “The Visit,” 1999; “Chicago” (film), 2002); and many of their standards (“All That Jazz,” “Maybe This Time,” “Cabaret,” “New York, New York”). Vocalists Stephanie Laws, Aurelie Roque and Tim Scott will be joined by Barnhart at the piano, Julian Goff on drums and Brian Wilson on bass for the revue’s three dozen sizzling songs.

“Life Is a Cabaret” runs through May 20 at Quality Hill Playhouse, 303 W. 10th Street, Kansas City, Mo. For tickets, call 816-421-1700 or visit www.QualityHillPlayhouse.com.

CHEF WITH LOCAL TIES FEATURED — Israeli chef Moshe Basson, who has forged friendships with many members of Congregation Ohev Sholom and has appeared at KosherFest (which returns this year June 3), was featured in the March 30 edition of The Forward. The story, “Top Chef Forages for Ingredients and More: Moshe Basson Heads to Hills for Greens and Culinary History” can be found at: http://www.forward.com/articles/153527/top-chef-forages-for-ingredients-and-more/?p=all#ixzz1qu0xWQnj.

As Jews, we think of miracles at Chanukah when the oil lasted for eight days instead of one. We also think of miracles when the Red Sea parted, allowing our ancestors to continue fleeing Egypt even after the Egyptian army began pursuit.

It’s a sure bet that another miracle will be celebrated at the Blanks family seder this year. They will celebrate the health of their 17-year-old son Noah.

Why are they celebrating Noah’s health? In December, they were told he had a rare syndrome where most patients either die or become completely paralyzed. Noah, however, is getting stronger every day.

‘Life changed forever’

This story begins on Nov. 3 in Bloomington, Ill. Noah, a member of Congregation Beth Torah, said his “life changed forever” while he was attending the NFTY Missouri Valley Fall Chavurah. As ruach chair (a fundraising vice president), he was running around doing all the things an officer needs to do when getting ready for a program when he suddenly blacked out for a few seconds.

“When my mind came back together, I didn’t have any feeling from the hips down,” he said.

Noah “didn’t freak out” right away because he had had some difficulties before relating to a cyst he has in his lower back. But he did think he should tell his mother, Shari Blank. He texted her, relaying that he didn’t have any feeling in his legs. Shari called him immediately, insisting he contact his doctor, Jonathan Jacobs, M.D. Dr. Jacobs instructed Noah to go to the hospital in Bloomington.

Noah spent about a day in the Bloomington hospital, but the doctors there couldn’t diagnose the problem.

“They sent me home,” he said. “I had no feeling in my legs at all. I couldn’t walk at all.”

By this time Noah’s parents, Shari and Mitchell Blank, had arrived in Bloomington to be with their son. They drove Noah back to Kansas City because the doctors didn’t think it was a good idea for Noah to fly home.

Noah’s health continued to deteriorate during the eight-hour trip.

“On the car ride home I lost all the feeling in my left arm and on the right side of my face,” Noah said.

Noah’s mystery paralysis began on Saturday, Nov. 5. He was back in KC in time to keep an appointment he coincidentally already had with a neurosurgeon on Monday, Nov. 7.

“That doctor had no idea what was wrong, either,” Noah said.

He was then referred to a neurologist. Noah said he was in extreme pain and was having difficulty getting an appointment with the neurologist, so he decided to pursue a different strategy.

Noah is friends with Jason Arkin. Jason’s parents both happen to be neurologists. So Noah called Jason and explained the situation.

“I did not want to wait five days to see a neurologist when I couldn’t walk and I was in extreme pain,” Noah said.

Six days after the initial paralysis began, Nov. 9, Karen Arkin, M.D., admitted Noah to St. Luke’s South. He stayed there until Nov. 13.

“Those were the longest five days of my life,” he said.

Noah underwent a multitude of tests including MRIs, brain scan, CAT scan and spinal tap. He was also placed on IV steroids.

After Dr. Arkin consulted with a spinal cord expert in Dallas and a week after the mystery began, she diagnosed Noah with a very rare syndrome known as fibro cartilage embolus. It’s generally only found in children and adolescents.

According to Dr. Arkin, there are discs in between the vertebrae in the spinal cord. During adolescence there is a fluid pulp inside the discs. A little piece of Blank’s fluid disc material got out into the arteries that supply his spinal cord with blood. It went to three different places in his spinal cord. These caused Blank to have three small strokes in his spinal cord.

In every other case she’s researched, the patient has either died or stayed completely paralyzed. But she believes Noah will make a complete recovery and never experience this again.

Noah’s recovery

Noah had been diagnosed and was able to leave the hospital, but he wasn’t well.

“I was talking so slowly you couldn’t understand me. I had a little feeling back in my legs but I was not walking well at all. Then about three or four days after I got home from the hospital I had totally reached a plateau,” he explained.

A few days after his release from the hospital, he was to begin physical therapy.

“I was so bad when I went to physical therapy. My physical therapist said right off the bat I needed to go back into the hospital for in-patient rehab,” he said.

It was now a month after the initial paralysis began. He began in-patient rehab on Dec. 3 and was released after a week on Dec. 10.

Five months later, he still wears a bioness machine on his right leg. It’s made in Israel and he said it’s awesome.

“It’s literally electrotherapy,” he explained. “I have a gate sensor on my knee and the bottom of my shoe and automatically when I take a step the machine sends a message down my nerves and my foot pops up so I don’t drag my foot on the ground when I walk.”

Even today, Noah said he still battles horrible migraine headaches. When he has those migraines, he said his “speech totally slows down.” It was around mid-January before he felt his mental state and his speech “started totally coming back.”

None of this was easy for the Blue Valley Northwest senior.

“When I first got home from the hospital, I became completely depressed,” he said. “I was crying and I was totally out of it.”
He said his family and friends were there to support him every step of the way.

“My friends came over every single day after school. My house at times was packed with friends, which wasn’t always good because I was always feeling sick,” he said.

Dr. Arkin said Noah handled everything very maturely.

“Most teenagers would be crying and rude. Noah was gracious to every single person who came into his room. He knew them by first name and even sat at the nurses’ station at night visiting with them,” Dr. Arkin said.

“It was such a joy to see him get better,” she continued. “I told his parents they should be proud of the way they raised him.”

Academic achievements

Noah returned to school with the rest of his classmates after winter break and has been attending regular classes. But now he gets extra time on assignments and tests because his cognitive ability and his organizational ability aren’t totally back yet.

Yet he was mentally sharp enough to compete with his school’s “We the People” team that won the Kansas state competition on Jan. 31. A group of about 17 from Blue Valley Northwest will travel to Washington, D.C., for the national competition April 27 through May 1. That’s an accomplishment that made his grandmother, Sue Miller, extraordinarily proud.

One thousand high school students from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will participate in We the People. The three-day competition on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights will be held on the campus of George Mason University and in U.S. House of Representatives hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. Since the inception of the We the People program in 1987, more than 30 million students and 90,000 teachers have participated in the program.

“We get very well versed in government. We read books and study Supreme Court cases …,” Noah explained.

Noah will also graduate with his class in May. He is in the process of deciding where he wants to go to school and has narrowed his choices to University of Michigan, American University in Washington, D.C., DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., or the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.