A life devoted to women’s rights is one way to define Barbara Holzmark, this year’s recipient of the Dr. George Tiller Courage Award. The Kansas Choice Alliance presented Holzmark with the award on March 14 in Topeka during its annual Voices for Choice event. She has been fighting the battle for a woman’s right to control her own health for more than 25 years. It is a battle that is still at the forefront of politics today.

Holzmark’s work in advocacy began in earnest through the National Council of Jewish Women, Kansas City Section and her work with the Kansas State PTA, when she was placed on the Kansas Governor’s Commission on Education for Parenthood. As a member of the Governor’s Commission in 1985, she was asked to work on a project concerning the topic of Sex Education in the Home, School and Community. Eventually the Governor’s Commission and the PTA conducted a survey to find out what type of sex education was happening in Kansas. The results of the survey led to the mandate on human sexuality and AIDS education that started in the Kansas schools in 1987.

“1987 was my big year,” Holzmark said. “That is the year of my turning point in realizing what I can do. It became the time when I became more active. I went to DC with NCJW and met with legislators. I knew how to do it because I had been going to Topeka. It was natural for me.”

In July of 1989, Holzmark finished her NCJW presidency. She was sent to Wichita to represent the local NCJW Section at a meeting when the Kansas Choice Alliance (KCA) was formed, and became the alliance’s first treasurer.

“As soon as I could, I had a program with NCJW and Comprehensive Health for Women, which eventually became Planned Parenthood,” she added.

By now she had also become an active volunteer in Operation Rescue in Wichita, and in January 1990 Holzmark helped found the Roe v. Wade celebration, which was held every January in Topeka. Now it is called Voices for Choice, and this is the second year it was held in March.

Her work for women’s rights has not gone unnoticed.

“The Dr. George Tiller Courage Award was created to recognize individuals who have shown extraordinary courage in standing up for women’s rights and access to comprehensive reproductive health care in Kansas,” said Sheila Kostas, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

“This year’s recipient, Barbara Holzmark, was also a founding member of the Kansas Choice Alliance …. not only was she at the table as a representative of NCJW when the Kansas Choice Alliance was formed in 1989, she has continued to serve as the driving force of KCA for the past 23 years as an ever present voice in the fight to protect reproductive rights and choice in Kansas.”

Holzmark is currently president of KCA.

“My advocacy is in real life issues,” she said. “It is these real life issues that have taken me above and beyond. I cannot stand the thought that women in their own homes cannot do what they want to do. I see it as a Conservative view on wanting to turn the clock back on Roe. I think that is their aim in life. As soon as Roe is no longer legal, they will be happy. I think it is more than just a war on women.”

A recipient of NCJW’s highest award, the Hannah G. Solomon Award, in 2000, Holzmark would love to see more women become active in advocacy.

“I now tell people that I am 100 percent for choice without any restrictions because it is up to a woman to do what she wants to do with her body, her health after conferring with those she wants to confer with,” she said. “It is called respect. We have to respect how they feel, so why can’t they respect how we feel.”

“If the America Medical Association can say this is a safe operation and they do not declare it harmful for women, why are we concerned,” she added.

Holzmark is honored to receive the Dr. George Tiller Award.

“It is quite an honor,” she said. “I guess because I have been in it for so long, someone has recognized me. I am not looking for honor or glory, I always wanted what was best for women.”

“In honoring Barbara with the Dr. George Tiller Courage Award,” Kostas said when presenting the award to Holzmark, “I’m reminded of Dr. Tiller’s bravery and courage, but also of his unique way of teaching by example …. Barbara is a shining example of what it means to be courageous as we work to provide compassionate care to women in need. Barbara is also a shining example of what it means to be courageous when it comes to standing strong and unwavering in this fight. …

“Barbara has been a stalwart supporter and anchor for all of us as we’ve faced challenge after challenge and assault after assault on women’s health in the Kansas Legislature. Through it all, she has always maintained a smile and positive attitude while doing everything she could to encourage others to join the fight.”

Rita Blitt’s short film, “Collaborating with the Past,” has been selected for showing at the Kansas City FilmFest. Blitt’s short will be shown prior to “Andrew Bird: Fever Year” at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, at AMC Mainstreet 6 located at 1400 Main Street in downtown Kansas City. It will be shown again at 8:15 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at the Ward Parkway 14 located at 8600 Ward Parkway, also preceding “Andrew Bird: Fever Year.”

Blitt created her 10-minute multi-media work “Collaborating with the Past” in homage to the Jewish artists whose works were silenced by Hitler. These drawing were made while she listened to the music of Czech-Jewish composer Pavel Haas at the Aspen Music Festival. Haas’ passionate, evocative music is synchronized with the artist’s spontaneous, minimal line drawings, fading in and out across the screen in expressive, patterns and rhythms.

Haas’s string quartet “From the Monkey Mountains” recalls a happy era of his youth, when he spent summer vacations in the Czech-Moravian Highlands near Brno. The Czech composer studied with Leos Janacek and incorporated elements of folk music and jazz in his compositions. Together with many Jewish musicians, intellectuals, artists and children, Haas was deported by the Nazis to the Terezin transit camp near Prague in 1941. There, he joined colleagues in composing and performing music, despite the brutal conditions of the camp. He died at Auschwitz in 1944 at age 43.

Blitt herself has been described as a conductor of color and light. Her musical, flowing drawings synthesize the spirited movements and lyrical passages of Haas’ composition, as she achieves her own personal and artistic collaboration with the past.

Blitt said creating “Collaborating with the Past” has been a very satisfying experience for her.

“It represents the culmination of an artistic project I’ve been trying to achieve for several years. In 1995, I responded with spontaneous drawings as I sat in a concert hall, listening to the music of the European composers who perished in Hitler’s death camps: Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Hans Krasa, Viktor Ullmann, and Erwin Shulhoff,” she explained.

She said the short film gives her the opportunity “to both share the minimal line drawings I made, with great emotion, and to honor the legacy of those whose creativity was silenced during the Holocaust.”

Blitt noted that both her mother and Haas’ mother were born in Odessa, Russia.

“While working on my film, I realized that had I been living in Russia, I, too, might have been a victim of the Holocaust. The film is a moment in time for the viewer to grasp the magnitude of what has been lost, of what these composers might have produced, had they been able to live and create in freedom, as I have done all my life.”

Blitt’s film premiered at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco in May 2011.

Also the weekend of April 13, a new building will open at the Samuel U. Rogers Clinic in which 100 of Blitt’s works will be on display indefinitely.

Founded in 1996, the Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee presents an annual, juried film festival featuring more than 120 local, regional, national and international films. Traditionally the festival is held in April each year and the general movie-going public is encouraged to attend the screenings. More than $200,000 in cash and prizes have been awarded since 1997. In 2012, a $1,000 cash prize will be awarded for the best short film. Additionally, more than $5,000 in other cash and prizes will be awarded to top juried films.

Panels and workshops are offered during the festival as local filmmakers have the opportunity to meet and learn from other filmmakers who come to Kansas City to judge and speak. In its 16-year history, the festival has attracted more than 250 top filmmakers from around the world to share their work and their insights on filmmaking.

For more information about the Kansas City FilmFest, visit www.kcfilmfest.org.

Six Jewish Korean War veterans — Mel Cosner, Marvin Denton, Jack Hirsekorn, Bob Hoffman, Abe Levine and Stan Silverman — recently met at the Jewish Community Campus to recreate a photo taken in April 1952, 60 years ago, in Seoul, South Korea.

These Jewish men from Kansas City were all serving in the U.S. Army and were trucked to Seoul to be able to take part in a Passover service. Silverman and Cosner served in the same unit. The other four soldiers served in different units. In Seoul, Levine took one photo of the other five men, which was published in The Chronicle in 1952 as well as Stars and Stripes, the U.S. Army newspaper, and then again in The Chronicle’s 75th anniversary special edition in 1975. All of the six soldiers, except Levine, were 22 years old at the time the original photo was taken. Levine was 21.

The six vets believe a total of 800 Jewish soldiers were driven to Seoul for the service that day. Only a service was held, they were not served a Passover meal.

As far as memories of Korea itself, Denton said he still remembers that he’s never been as cold in his life as he was while serving in Korea.

“When I got home I got down on all fours, kissed the ground and said there is no other place like this country. People really don’t realize what we have.”

It had been years since Vicki Belzer worked outside the home; she was very busy raising her two children. With her son and daughter grown, and Belzer now divorced, she was ready to get back out in the work force, and needed help. That’s when a friend told her about Jewish Employment Services and Career Coach Joyce Hill.

“Joyce was so sweet and welcoming,” Belzer said. “She didn’t look at me like I was an idiot because I had little experience.”

Today, Belzer is employed by Eye Associates of Overland Park, working as part of the office staff. She’s grateful for JES and its staff who helped her in the job search.

When Belzer connected with JES, she had a little bit of experience having worked in the optical department at a Target Store.

“I loved meeting the people and helping them choose their glasses,” she said.

However, Belzer left her Target job last summer to spend time with her children and travel to Israel to see her son. Once back home, it was time to go back to work, but she wasn’t sure how to start the process all over again.

“I didn’t have a resume or anything,” Belzer said. “That’s when someone told me about this service. It was so incredible.”

JES has much to offer those in a job search — career assessment, resume development, individualized and group coaching, interviewing and networking skills, job search strategies and connections to jobs. Gayl Reinsch leads the JES team and helps participants make connections in the job market and search for existing employment opportunities. JES holds monthly Job Club meetings and skills-building workshops as well as providing the services of two career coaches —  Hill and Cari Boasberg — to help members of the community land employment.

Belzer  attended a Job Club meeting then made an appointment with Hill, who asked helpful questions.

“She would ask me specific things, and she gave me homework to think about,” Belzer said. “It helped me highlight my skills.”

With Hill’s help, Belzer put together a resume, received training on interviewing and networking skills and headed out to find a job, which she got right away as a medical technician. After a month, she decided to look for another position that had more people contact; that’s when she joined Eye Associates.

“The company I work for is so service oriented and people oriented,” she said. “I love it.”

Belzer gives much credit to JES for helping her land her current position.

“They were invaluable,” she said of the JES staff. “I never felt rushed. They were welcoming, respectful, regardless of my non-professional position.”

Working with JES gave Belzer confidence and peace of mind.

“It gave me a sense of comfort. If I had questions I could get them answered and if they couldn’t answer them, they would find someone who could,” Belzer said.

By contacting JES, “it opened this door and there was this big ray of sunshine,” Belzer said. “I was really taken care of.”
Weekly orientation sessions jumpstart the process for new job seekers. For date and time contact JES at or (913) 327-8278.

Upcoming JES programs include the April 23 Job Club that will feature a LinkedIn demonstration (4-7 p.m.) and the April 26 Networking Happy Hour (5:30-6:30 p.m.) in the Galleria of the Jewish Community Campus’ theatre entrance. Belzer has some advice for others looking for a job.

“Take advantage of this service and use it to its fullest. It’s amazing,” she said.

JES is a joint program of Jewish Family Services and Jewish Vocational Service that connects members of the Jewish community with jobs. JES is funded by The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, the Lowenstein Brothers Foundation, the Jewish Heritage Foundation the Morgan Family Foundation and the Sosland Foundation

“Pass Over to Freedom” by Libi Astaire (Aster Press e-book, 2012)

Libi Astaire, a writer who grew up in the Kansas City Jewish community and now lives in Jerusalem, has just published this, the third in her e-book series of Chassidic/Jewish stories for the holidays.

Subtitled “15 Jewish Tales for Passover,” this book gives insights to the seder as well as a story for each of the seder’s 15 steps.

“The Passover seder is a time when Jewish families around the world gather together to retell the story of the Jewish people’s passage from slavery in Egypt to freedom,” Astaire writes in her introduction. This journey is through the Haggadah but to enrich the experience, she suggests reading a story from the Sages with each step.

Each step is explained and a provocative idea is introduced for the reader to ponder. What confused me was whether the rabbi mentioned in her introduction is the actual author of the story that follows. At the end are biographical notes for 31 rabbis, but they are not specifically identified with a story.

Nevertheless, all of the stories are delightful to read. For example, for the Hamotzi, “Monkeys from Heaven” is a story by Rabbi Elimelech of  Lyzhensk; for dipping the vegetable in salt water we read “Are You Growing?” a story of Rabbi Hillel of Kolomaya; for Hillel’s sandwich, “Hold the Wry,” retells a story of Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov.

The earlier e-books on Chassidic/Jewish stories are: “36 Candles: Chassidic Tales for Chanukah” and “Choose Life! 8 Chassidic Stories for the Jewish New Year.” Astaire is also the author of “Terra Incognito,” a fascinating story of descendants in Spain of anusim, Jews forced to convert to Christianity in the Middle Ages.

She is also author of “The Disappearing Dowry,” a Jewish historical mystery set in England which won the 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book Award (an annual award to outstanding books for children and teens which authentically portray the Jewish experience, by the Association of Jewish Libraries), and part of the Ezra Melamed Mystery Series, an imprint of Zahav/Targum Press.

Astaire’s mother, Ruth Feinberg, still lives in Prairie Village.

K.I.’S TOP 50 RABBI — Newsweek and The Daily Beast announced its 2012 list of top rabbis this week and this year it includes Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, who will become senior rabbi at Kehilath Israel Synagogue following the retirement of Rabbi Herbert Mandl this summer. Here’s what the list says about Rabbi Yanklowitz, who is new to the list this year at No. 40:

“The energetic founder and president of Uri L’Tzedek, an influential Orthodox social Justice group, [Rabbi] Yanklowitz was described by one observer of the Jewish world as ‘the face of the future, because he works round the clock and creates a new organization every week.’ (His latest is a center for Jewish vegans, cofounded with musician Matisyahu.) The author of ‘Jewish Ethics & Social Justice: A Guide for the 21st Century,’ he trained at Avi Weiss’s YCT (#11) and is probably the first Orthodox rabbi to quote Foucault to advocate for prison reform.”

To see the entire list, visit http://bit.ly/HBtdeh.

HISTORICAL MARKER — We reported several months ago that Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation was trying to arrange a historical designation for the first synagogue in Kansas. A historical marker will be dedicated by the Leavenworth County Historical Society commemorating the first Jewish place of worship in the state of Kansas, Temple B’Nai Jeshurun, at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19. The ceremony will be held at the corner of Sixth Street and Osage in Leavenworth, Kan. A reception and program featuring Jerry Klinger, president and founder of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. at The Carroll Mansion Museum, 1128 Fifth Ave., also in Leavenworth.

MID-LIFE PLAYERS — My friend, former colleague and PR maven Ruth Baum Bigus is a member of a theatrical group known as the Mid-Life Players. This group formed, she said, to provide a venue to perform works that these players might not get cast in as “mid-lifers.” They will perform “Company” (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth) on April 13-15 at the Alcott Center for the Arts, 180 S. 18th St., Kansas City, Kan. Bigus will play Joanne, and she gets to sing the powerful “Here’s to the Ladies Who Lunch.” For ticket information and show times, call 816-716-6681. Break a leg Ruthie!

SPIN MATZAH! — SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza will offer an option of matzah instead of flatbread with its large salads during Passover. Matzo will be available beginning April 6 at the locations in Overland Park (6541 W. 119th St.), midtown Kansas City (4950 Main), and Olathe (14230 W. 119th St.).

Corrections

An article published last week (March 29) about the play, “The Whipping Man,” incorrectly stated the name of the theater. The play is being produced through April 5 by the Kansas City Rep. In addition, the play is two hours long including intermission, not three hours long.

Last week The Chronicle reported that HBHA’s team was one of six finalists for the fifth annual NCSY National JUMP Leadership competition. However the local participants were listed incorrectly. This year’s JUMP team, which attended the competition in Stamford, Conn., included Ricardo Zepeda, Avery Parkhurst and Cameron Burns. Alex Sher was also a member of the team but didn’t attend the competition.

Congregation Beth Shalom, the largest Conservative congregation in Kansas City with approximately 763 family units, has hired Rabbi David Glickman as its next senior rabbi. He will join the congregation this summer.

Rabbi Glickman is filling the position last held permanently by Rabbi Robert Tobin, who left the congregation when his contract expired last summer. Rabbi Alan Cohen, who served as senior rabbi from 1989 to 2008, returned to lead the congregation during this interim year. Dr. Norman Kahn Jr. and Alan Edelman led the senior rabbi search committee.

The congregation is continuing the search for a person to fill the newly created Clergy 2 position. Congregation President Kurt Kavanaugh said Rabbi Glickman “will be an active and valued participant in the process.” The Clergy 2 Search Committee is chaired by Jeff Goldenberg and Steve Flekier.

In a letter to members announcing Rabbi Glickman’s selection, Kavanaugh said the rabbi is excited to be Beth Shalom’s partner in implementing its strategic imperatives on spirituality, education and community.

“He also brings expertise in organizational management so we look forward to working together in implementing our strategic plan. After two visits to Kansas City and many hours in conversation with our congregational leaders, he has a keen understanding of who we are and he has the ability and commitment to help us make our vision for the future a reality,” Kavanaugh said.

Rabbi Glickman, 39, has spent the past 11 years at Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas. His primary responsibility at the congregation that serves more than 1,200 families has been serving the pulpit at its north satellite, Beit Aryeh, every Shabbat and holiday.

The rabbi hails from Lansing, Mich. Beginning as a theater major, he graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in history and Jewish studies, continuing at the Jewish Theological Seminary where he was ordained in 2001. He has served Congregation Shearith Israel since his ordination.

Rabbi Glickman is passionate about creating communities where warm relationships stand at the center. He was the rabbinic vision behind Congregation Shearith Israel’s start-up satellite service, a lay-led minyan serving Dallas’ north suburbs. Rabbi Glickman has also been a dynamic force in creating a nationally recognized Young Professionals’ program touching the lives of hundreds of young Jews ages 21-35 in the greater Dallas area. He loves teaching all ages, and has taught in diverse settings such as adult education programs, day school and preschool classes, workshops at Texas Instruments, and The University of Dallas (a Catholic, liberal-arts college in North Texas).

Rabbi Glickman met his wife Annie in Jerusalem when they were both studying at Hebrew University. Annie is a regional director for the Florence Melton Adult Mini School. They have three children, Gavriel (10), Ellie (6) and Dani (3).

Kavanaugh told Beth Shalom members Rabbi Glickman has been a powerful catalyst for cutting-edge, innovative programming, dynamic education and meaningful spiritual experiences.

“Rabbi Glickman has been instrumental in creating adult education opportunities and his passion for teaching shines in his connection with students of all ages. National organizations such as STAR (Synagogue Transformation and Renewal), the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Tikvah Institute have recognized Rabbi Glickman, selecting him to participate in their national young leaders’ fellowships. In addition to his outstanding pulpit and educational abilities, Rabbi Glickman has a great capacity and deep commitment for developing close and long-standing relationships with congregational members of all ages,” Kavanaugh said.

Rabbi Glickman said he was attracted to this area for a number of reasons.

“Kansas City has a history and a reputation for its warmth, for its energy and for the type of Jewish community that it’s built over the decades and I wanted to be a part of that,” Rabbi Glickman said.

He continued that he’s very passionate about building a Jewish community that has engaging learning and congregants that care about each other.

“I’ve been very involved in the community here in Dallas across the denominations and I’ve built strong friendships and connections with rabbis from across the denominations. One of the things that also attracted me to Kansas City is the long history of community and collaboration in a pluralistic environment,” he continued.

Jordan Metzl is a physician and an athlete who has competed in 29 marathons and nine Ironman triathlons. He has also just published his third book, “The Athlete’s Book of Home Remedies: 1,001 Doctor-Approved Health Fixes and Injury-Prevention Secrets for a Leaner, Fitter, More Athletic Body!” (Rodale Books, March 2012).

The KC native has been in practice in New York City for the past 14 years at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and treats more than 20,000 patients. He has appeared on “Today” and “Good Morning America” and has articles written about him in USA Today. He’ll be in Kansas City next week to promote the book and spend Passover with his family.

The son of Drs. Marilyn and Kurt Metzl, Jordan Metzl grew up at Kehilath Israel Synagogue, where he became a Bar Mitzvah. He attended Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy through eighth grade and is a graduate of The Barstow School. Now 45, he calls medicine the family business as two of his three brothers are physicians as well.

“Helping people is our family currency,” he said.

Dr. Metzl specializes in nonsurgical treatment, working to help patients get back to their favorite activities as soon as is safely possible. He also strives to be a positive example for his patients, teaching his “Iron Strength” workout classes on weekends and maintaining his own fitness at an elite level.

“I love being fit and active, and I like to encourage others to do the same,” he says. “I feel like being a role model for my patients really helps me communicate with them better. I want to keep them on the field because I know how much better I feel when I’m out there doing what I love to do. Fitness keeps me injury-free and helps me in all aspects of my life, both inside and outside the office.”

“The Athletes Book of Home Remedies” is described as a “go-to resource for safe, effective, do-it-yourself treatments whether you have a strain, sprain, or pain that you’ve never felt before.” The book breaks down all the information “into easy-to-follow strategies for effective self-treatment — while letting you know in no uncertain terms when you should go see your own doctor, pronto.”

As Dr. Metzl describes it, the book is a how-to manual for people to be fit at any stage for whatever level of athlete they are.

“Everybody from the high-level athlete who is going to play sports in college to the person who plays golf at Oakwood once a month to the person who is 75 or 80 who wants to be active, the philosophy for this book and the information in it is applicable for anyone,” he said.

The main thing, he reiterates, is this book is about keeping people healthy the best way he knows, through physical activity.

“I want to get people back to activity and moving as effectively as I can,” Dr. Metzl said. “That’s what the book is about and my life is about. As a doctor and an athlete I encourage people to be active and to move and be fit and make the most out of their activity.”

He does what he does, in the office and out, because he feels so strongly “that exercise is the best medicine for people.”

“Exercise is the thing that keeps my engine going. I value it so much that I want all my patients to have the same experience,” said Dr. Metzl, who has been called one of the 10 best sports medicine doctors in New York by New York Magazine. He also competed in the Maccabi Games in Chile on the fast-pitch softball team several years ago.

He is a huge proponent of people staying active throughout their lives, no matter what their age. In fact that’s the whole purpose of this book.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a 10-year-old softball player or an 80-year-old walker; I want you to be active. We know that people who exercise every day have longer, happier, healthier lives. They stay out of doctor’s offices and they tend to have a better quality of life across all indicies of cardiac disease, depression, it lessons cancer risks. Exercise is absolutely good medicine. My focus in doing this book is teaching people how they can keep their bodies, moving, active and out of the doctor’s office,” Dr. Metzl said.

Dr. Metzl has been working on this book for about three years. He’s written two others and produced an exercise video and doesn’t rule out other projects in the future. But for now he is thrilled with the response his latest endeavor is receiving.

“The nice thing is since the Today Show stuff and the USA Today article, it’s on the way to be a best seller and that’s really exciting,” he said. “People are over the moon excited. People love it. I’ve gotten all kinds of great comments from people all over the world. It’s been really cool to watch it spread.”

Dr. Metzl considers himself lucky that he can help people every day.

“I’m so appreciative and lucky that I have a job where I can actually help people as part of my job. That’s a really nice thing to have as part of your life. I do it every day with my patients but to be able to get that information en masse to people is a very gratifying thing,” he said.

Dr. Metzl meet and greet

KC native and nationally-known sports medicine doctor Jordan Metzl, M.D., will appear at The Barstow School at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5.

The signing is free and open to the public. Dr. Metzl will give a brief lecture and books will be available for purchase.

The event is sponsored by Barnes & Noble of Town Center. Space is limited. RSVPs are requested via Barstow’s websitewww.barstowschool.org. For more information call 816-942-3255.

The Whipping Man,” now playing at Kansas City Repertory Theatre is one of director Eric Rosen’s favorite plays because it’s about Passover, an intensely personal holiday for him.

“This play is right up my alley in a lot of ways,” said Rosen, who has been the artistic director at Kansas City Rep since 2008.

“Passover is sort of my horror story. I’m from a mixed marriage. My mom converted before I was born. She was a Southern Baptist from North Carolina and my dad is the son of Eastern European immigrants who also grew up in North Carolina. They secretly married four or five months before they told their parents. It all came out at Passover in 1966. So Passover is always a really big deal for my family,” he said.

Passover is so important to Rosen that he chose to major in Jewish studies and theater at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“I wrote my thesis on the Passover seder as a theatrical ritual, taking the seder as a script that is improvised through different cultures and different historical periods,” Rosen said.

“So when I read this play in which there is an actual Passover seder performed in this most unlikely way that inspires major revelations with the characters and history, I was just blown away by it. The way playwright Matthew Lopez uses the inherent theatricality of the seder as a dramatic means to get to the climax is pretty cool,” he continued.

The play is about a Jewish Confederate soldier who returns to his childhood home, only to find it in ruins and occupied by his former slaves. Though a new chapter of history is unfolding, dangerous secrets of the past threaten to destroy their family, their connected history and their shared faith. In keeping with their religious beliefs, the three characters in the play celebrate Passover in 1865 with a seder dinner.

It is set in Richmond, Va., at a time when one in five Southern Jewish families owned slaves, though more typically a smaller number to support an urban household rather than the hundreds or thousands owned by plantation owners.

“The Whipping Man” first premiered in 2006 at Luna Stage in Montclair, N.J., and has become one of the more regularly produced new American plays. Playwright Lopez was awarded the John Gassner Playwrighting Award by the Outer Critics Circle for “The Whipping Man” and holds new play commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company and The Old Globe, where he is also artist-in-residence.

Director Rosen had a glimpse of audience reactions to the play during preview performances, and he noticed they were at the edge of their seats at each plot turn.

“They were really dying to know what comes next, and that is a sign of really great storytelling, he said.

Rosen noted that the play is very intimate with just three characters.

“It’s two hours long but it feels like it’s just five minutes and it’s pretty intense,” he said.

Rosen said the playwright, Lopez, is Puerto Rican and his inspiration to write this was the historical coincidence that the end of the Civil War and the Lincoln assassination happened on days four and seven of Passover that year.

“When I talked to him about it, the liberation of the southern slaves in the southern states, the metaphor of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt coinciding with the actual reality of freeing the slaves in Richmond gave him the idea for this play,” Rosen said.

Rosen explains that one of the characters is from a prominent Jewish family and the other two characters are two of his former slaves who were brought up Jewish and are very religious.

“So the three of them go through this experience of Passover at the end of the war when they are in very dire straits. It’s like the first seder ever.”

“The part of the seder where we are celebrating our freedom from bondage is taken to an extreme height in this play,” Rosen continued.

He said watching Jewish audiences devour this play is really fun.

“You have to know Passover pretty well to get some of the jokes,” he said. “We’re really pleased that we are finding a Jewish audience for the play and that they are enjoying it.”

The Whipping Man

The play runs now through April 5 at Spencer Theatre in the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, located at 4949 Cherry Street at the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus. For ticket information call 816-235-2700.

Passover is just barely a week away and if you haven’t already determined what you plan to serve during that time, several new cookbooks have been recently published to help you make those decisions. Here are a few of those new cookbooks, complete with mouth-watering recipes for Passover, that have crossed desk recently.

‘Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking: Ordinary Ingredients, Extraordinary Meals’

A recipe doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious, nor exclusive to certain kitchens. Such is the mantra of Leah Schapira, co-founder of the popular culinary website, www.CookKosher.com, and author of the new book, “Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking: Ordinary Ingredients, Extraordinary Meals” (Artscroll; November 2011). Inspiring everyone from traditional kosher cooks to everyday working women and moms, Schapira shows how to use simple, fresh ingredients to create time-sensitive, tasty meals for all to enjoy.

A busy wife and mother, Schapira extends her recipes to a wide audience of people who don’t have much time to cook. She includes useful tips, minimal ingredients and easy-to-follow steps. The book is organized into chapters with sections containing time-saving tips such as menus, freezer-friendly meals and an index of food pairings for weeknight recipes. Her seasonal menus encourage home cooks to take advantage of market fresh, simple ingredients for even easier recipe planning.

Recipes are divided into chapters covering soups, salads, dips and sauces, sides, brunch and lunch, main dishes, traditional and desserts.

Here’s an unusual offering for Passover from “Fresh and Easy Kosher Cooking”:

Egg & Liver Tower — Meat

Adding height in food presentation makes everything look better, and you can achieve this without going out to buy another kitchen gadget. This isn’t so much a recipe as it is a suggestion for presentation. Everyone has a preferred egg salad and/or chopped liver recipe, or knows where to buy the family’s favorite. Have fun plating these towers and your table will be simply elegant — and no one has to know how easy they were to assemble!

Try serving these towers with potatoes and/or sweet potatoes.

1 8 oz. can, emptied of all contents
Oil, to brush can
Prepared egg salad
Prepared chopped liver salad
1 large tomato, sliced into thin rounds

Using a can opener, remove both ends of the can, forming a ring mold. Wash thoroughly. Brush the inside of the can with oil and set in the center of your serving plate. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons liver. Pat down well.

Position a slice of tomato over the liver; it should cover entirely. Add 3 to 4 heaping tablespoons egg salad. Pat down well.

Carefully remove the ring mold and garnish with crispy onions.
Repeat with remaining liver, tomato, egg salad and onions.

Note:
Make sure your egg salad has enough oil or mayonnaise to hold it together. Dry egg salad will not maintain the shape of the mold.

Crispy onions
1 c. oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced into rounds

These onions make for a stunning topping. Use over mashed potatoes, meats or eat as-is when no one is watching!

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over high heat. When hot, add the onions and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring them with a fork every so often, until they turn a golden brown (it may take longer depending on your pan).

Place paper towels on a flat tray or pan. Spread the cooked onions in a single layer over the paper towels and let dry. The onions will crisp up while drying.

‘The Bais Yaakov Cookbook’

Often the best cookbooks are ones that include favorite recipes from members of the community. That’s the case with “The Bais Yaakov Cookbook,” (Feldheim Publishers, 2011). It’s available online at amazon.com and a variety of other websites. Proceeds from the cookbook all go to the Fund for Jewish Education, which benefits numerous charitable institutions and schools in the Unites States and Israel.

This bestselling cookbook, now in its second printing, is considered the hottest cookbook in the Jewish market right now. It is a gorgeous book with terrific recipes and a ton of useful information for the kosher cook. It has 200 recipes and is aimed at uplifting and enhancing “your Shabbos, Yom Tov and every day tables.”

Consider trying this recipe from “The Bais Yaakov Cookbook” for Passover:

Rib Eye Steak with Mushroom Sauce
Yield: 4 Servings

4 (8 oz.) rib eye steaks
Salt
Ground black pepper
2 T. vegetable or canola oil

Mushroom sauce
4-6 oz. fresh mushroom combination, including shiitake and cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. fresh parsley leaves, chopped
2/3 c. beef broth
2 T. good quality red wine

Rinse meat and pat dry; season with salt and ground black pepper. Heat oil in large skillet. Sear meat in hot oil, about 1 minute each side and place steaks into broiler pan. Keep skillet.

Preheat broiler. Broil steaks in the center of the oven until steak is light brown and slightly charred, about 5 minutes. Turn steak over and continue broiling to medium rare doneness, about 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and let rest.

Meanwhile, prepare mushroom sauce. In the same skillet used for browning meat, add mushrooms, garlic and parsley. Sauté over low heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add broth and wine. Mix to combine and cook, about 3 more minutes.

Pour mushroom sauce over meat. Serve.

‘Vegan Holiday Kitchen’

Veteran author Nava Atlas has compiled a cookbook with more than 200 recipes for every festive occasion in “Vegan Holiday Kitchen,” (Sterling Publishing, 2011). Atlas is one of the most respected names in vegetarian and vegan cooking. She addresses everything from Thanksgiving to Chanukah to Passover to celebratory brunches, lunches, dinners, potlucks and buffets.

This is not a kosher cookbook or a Jewish cookbook, it just has Jewish chapters included. Atlas refers to her extended family as non-religious Jews and said she grew up with what she terms the “blandness of our mothers’ or grandmothers’ Ashkenazik cooking.” However, she writes that she enjoyed the emphasis on vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, herbs and spices found in the Sephardic tradition.

Recipes for Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Chanukah include Moroccan-Style Vegetable Soup with Vegan Matzo Balls; Vegan Latkes, Coconut-Almond Macaroons, Sweet Noodle Kugel and Seven-Vegetable Couscous.

The book includes several interesting vegan recipes for Passover, including the following:

Spinach, Leek, and Potato
Matzo Gratin
8 TO 10 SERVINGS

This dish closely resembles the layered matzo casseroles, called minas, which are commonly served at Sephardic seders. They consist of layered matzos, vegetables and cheese. With optional Daiya cheese, or no cheese at all, it’s a tradition well worth adopting (and adapting) for a vegan Passover seder.

8 medium potatoes
1 c. raw cashews
1 fairly ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and cut into large chunks
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
2 large or 3 medium leeks, white and palest green parts only, chopped and well rinsed
10 to 12 oz. baby spinach, rinsed
2 T. minced fresh dill, or 1 t. dried
1/4 c. matzo meal or quinoa flakes
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 matzos
1 cup grated Daiya cheese, optional
1/3 c. pine nuts for topping, optional

1. Cook, bake or microwave the potatoes in their skins until just tender. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

2. Cover the cashews with 1 cup boiling water in a heatproof bowl and let stand for at least 15 minutes. Drain the cashews, then combine with the avocado and lemon juice in a food processor. Process until smoothly pureed; drizzle enough water through the feed tube while the processor is running to give the mixture a thick, creamy texture.

3. Preheat the oven to 350º F.

4. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the leeks and sauté over medium-low heat until golden. Add the spinach in batches, covering and cooking until wilted to make room for all of it. Stir in the cashew cream, dill and matzo meal. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Break each matzo in half and place in a shallow dish or bowl. Cover matzos with room-temperature water until slightly pliable (don’t let them get mushy!), about 2 minutes; drain. Lightly oil a 9 x 13–inch casserole dish.

6. Layer the casserole as follows: line the bottom with a layer of matzos, using two matzos per layer. Follow with a layer of potato slices, half the spinach mixture, half the optional cheese and another layer of matzos. Repeat, ending with a layer of matzo.

7. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden with spots of brown. If using pine nuts, sprinkle them over the top about 10 minutes before removing from the oven. Let stand for 10 minutes, then cut into squares to serve.

‘Kosher-style Passover Cooking Made Simple’

The folks that gave us the “30 Minute-Seder” Haggadah have just published a new cookbook entitled, “Kosher-Style Passover Cooking Made Simple — Your survival guide to a delicious Passover!” As the back cover states, “Finally a cookbook that keeps it simple and enables you to create mouth-watering kosher-style Passover meals that the whole family will enjoy.”

Unlike cookbooks that are crammed full of enticing-but-never-made-choices, this incredibly easy-to-use cookbook only contains the recipes you need for a complete seder dinner including what you need for the seder plate. The paperback cookbook includes three main dishes, three side dishes, three desserts and a tropical twist on the popular breakfast dish, Matzah Brei. To order this cookbook go to: www.30minuteSeder.com.

This following recipe can be served at the seder, as the title suggests, or any time during the year.

Seder Salmon

This quick and easy to make, heart healthy dish is lactose and gluten free.

6 6 oz. salmon fillets or steaks

Marinade:
Salt and pepper, to taste (about 2 tsp.)
6 T. lemon juice
5 T. fresh (or 3 t. dried) parsley, chopped
5 T. fresh (or 3 t. dried) basil, chopped
9 cloves garlic, minced
½ c. olive oil

Garnish:
Lemon slices, fresh parsley springs, and/or basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix marinade ingredients in a medium bowl.

3. Place salmon in a baking dish large enough to hold all the fish in a single layer and pour the marinade over the fish. Cover with foil and refrigerate for an hour, turning salmon over after 30 minutes.

4. Remove from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If cooking fillets with skins, make sure they are skin side down.

Bake at 350 degrees until fish easily flakes with fork (25-45 minutes).

Garnish with fresh lemon slices and fresh parsley or basil and serve.
Serves 6
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25-45 minutes