JERUSALEM — George Lebovitz was born in a displaced persons camp in Italy, the son of Holocaust survivors Eugene and Kate Lebovitz. A 1963 graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School, he recently completed the six-month training course at Yad Vashem, the Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority and official Holocaust memorial in Israel, to be a guide.

“I was looking for a volunteer venue and with my history, this was the natural thing,” said George. “I remember my father crying at my Bar Mitzvah because my grandparents were not there. I wanted to continue the memory of my grandparents. Deciding to be a guide was a very emotional thing.”

How did he get from the suburbs of Kansas City to the suburbs of Jerusalem? It all began when he fell in love on his first trip to Israel.

Right after graduating high school, when he was still 17 years old, George went to Israel as part of the very first Greater Kansas City Pilgrimage led by Joe (now deceased) and Tzivia Gaba. The group had free time upon their arrival in Jerusalem at the beginning of the trip. So three girls in the group went for a walk, met three Israeli girls and proceeded to introduce them to other members of the Pilgrimage. That was when George met Aviva Ben-haim, a 17-year-old seventh-generation Israeli.

The two teens immediately liked each other. So while the group was still in Jerusalem, they went out on group dates. The Kansas Citian even met some of Aviva’s family.

One free weekend, George returned to Jerusalem and wanted to see Aviva again. He visited her sister’s home and learned that the young lady was in the hospital following minor surgery. Of course he went to the hospital to see how she was doing.

Not having any place to stay in Jerusalem, a friend of Aviva’s family made arrangements for George to stay at the hospital. That gave him extra time to spend with Aviva.

“I’m not sure it was love at first sight,” said Aviva. “We hardly knew each other but when he stayed in the hospital, I thought, here was a guy who took time to visit me and spent the whole time in the hospital. I thought, this is a very special guy.”

Before his summer trip ended, George made arrangements to see Aviva again.

“I didn’t know if he would ever come back,” Aviva said.

George attended the Jewish Theological Seminary/Columbia University program in the United States. But he decided to return to Israel, this time on a year program for youth leaders from abroad called Machon l’madrichei chutz l’aretz.

He dated Aviva once again, although George says, “when we fell in love is hard to pinpoint!”

They got engaged in December 1964, married in April 1965 and returned to the Kansas City area in June 1965. Here, they began teaching at Congregation Ohev Sholom.

George went back to college, this time attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Aviva taught preschool at Kehilath Israel Synagogue. While going to school, he became tween director at the Jewish Community Center and then KI youth director; both worked at Barney Goodman camp and taught at KI.

In 1968, they were the leaders of the Greater Kansas City Pilgrimage to Israel.

“I felt when you get, you have to give back,” said George. “I was hoping to give those kids a love and attachment to Israel like I had gotten on the pilgrimage five years before.”

After their return, while George was still in school, their two children, a son and a daughter, were born.

George received his Bachelor of Arts and master’s degrees from UMKC, meanwhile working for the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. The Lebovitzes continued working in Jewish education after they moved to Cincinnati in 1972 and Aviva began to work in real estate. He worked for the day school and she earned her college degree. George continued his education as well, earning a doctorate in educational administration.

Since there was no yeshiva high school in Cincinnati for their son, Yaron, they moved to Los Angeles in 1981, still working in the fields of Jewish education and real estate.

In 2007, they moved again, this time to San Antonio, Texas, to complete some real estate business while preparing to make aliyah.

Three years earlier Yaron, now a doctor, had made aliyah. While visiting him, Aviva says, one day she asked herself, “what are we doing in Texas?”

So the following year, in August 2008, 45 years after George participated in that first pilgrimage and met Aviva in Israel, and 43 years after they got married, George made aliyah and Aviva returned to her native country.

“I believe this is the place to be,” Aviva said. “I loved Israel. I am amazed how changed Israel is and we are enjoying being here. I wish we would have come before.”

Becoming acclimated to living in Israel was much easier for George and Aviva because they both spoke Hebrew and their son and his family had come before them.

Aviva keeps busy as a volunteer at Yad Sarah, “an organization that offers free medical equipment for sick people.” She also takes classes and spends a lot of time with their six grandchildren, ranging in age from 20 to 1 month old.

“For us, this is something new, to have our grandchildren so close. That is a treat!” Aviva said.

Both Aviva and George participate in learning weekends — with Eretz Ahavati (I love the land) and Avot u’meyasdim (fathers and founders) and are both avid bridge players. They also still have their business in Texas, which George administers.

“This is the place for the Jews,” says George. “If people come with the right attitude, adjusting is not difficult.”

JEWISH PROVERB: Today’s words of wisdom are provided by a faithful reader, who got it from a friend:
A Jewish wife will forgive and forget, but she’ll never forget what she forgave.”

BUILDING HAS JEWISH ROOTS — Eric Schultz, a Chronicle subscriber and a multimedia journalist at NBC Action News, called last week after a wall collapsed at the Cain Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church. While there NBC Action News staffers, including multimedia journalist John Batten who graciously supplied us with this photo, discovered the Hebrew words -------beit ha midrash ha gadol------- on another wall. With some help from our friends at Kehilath Israel Synagogue, we were able to ascertain that the church, located at 1701 E. Linwood was once the home of Beth Hamidrash Hagadol synagogue. KI’s Rabbi Herbert Mandl said that congregation was a predecessor of BIAV. Sam Gould reminded us that there were several Jewish institutions located on or near Linwood Avenue, including the Jewish Community Center. Sam said the teenage boys who regularly played basketball at the JCC, including him, were often pressed into service when Beth Hamidrash Hagadol didn’t have 10 men to make a minyan. Upon further research we learned that, according to “Mid America’s Promise” by Joseph P. Schultz, Beth Hamidrash Hagadol was one of 10 synagogues in the Kansas City area who all joined a federation called the United Synagogues of Greater Kansas City. The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle called it a “feat of far-reaching significance, which should be indelibly recorded in the annals of Kansas City Jewry …” Coincidentally, Joseph Schultz is Eric Schultz’s father.

FUTURE STAR — Emily Waldberg is another young member of the Jewish community who is doing well in her athletic endeavors. Her volleyball team won every tournament they played in this year except one. Her team, Dynasty, recently competed at the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships in Atlanta where they played teams from California, Atlanta, Kentucky, Delaware, New York, Ohio, St. Louis and Colorado. During the tournament Emily and her teammates were interviewed by USA Volleyball Magazine, and their picture was featured on the magazine’s website. The daughter of Dan and Brenda Waldberg, she is 13 years old and will be an eighth-grade student at Overland Trail Middle School in August. The family belongs to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.





HEARING MOTHER’S           VOICES — Andrea Katzman, who hails from Lawrence, Kan., believes in the strength of mother’s voices and the power of their stories. That belief is so strong she co-wrote “Purple Leaves, Red Cherries: A Gift for Mothers with Short Stories, Journal & Toolkit” with Tania Elfersy. The book is filled with beautiful illustrations and is full of short messages “that invite you to reflect on the complexities of motherhood, inspire you with the words of other mothers and encourage you to create your own stories.” Andrea is currently a preschool teacher at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island and is a wife and mother of two. The book can be purchased at amazon.com. 

It sounds like it could be the beginning of a joke. “A rabbi and a president go into the woods…” But it was no joke when Andrew Kaplan, who became president of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah June 1, suggested that he and the congregation’s senior rabbi, Arthur Nemitoff, get to know each other better by hiking along the Appalachian Trail in the Georgia mountains. Last month they took that journey, hiking 27 miles over a four-day period.

Rabbi Nemitoff has been a rabbi for 30 years now and while he’s bonded with many presidents over the years, usually by “praying together and socializing together,” at meetings and meals, this was the first time he’d ever entertained such a request.

He said he immediately accepted the offer, partly because it was intriguing, and certainly not really understanding what it involved.

“I felt it was a unique opportunity and something I’ve personally never done before,” Rabbi Nemitoff said. “I know Andrew is a passionate person about those things in which he believes and it was clear in listening to him that this was a passionate desire of his. So therefore I needed to trust him.”

Kaplan is a hiker and he suggested the adventure because he understands the “power of the shared experience and the campfire.”

“I have experienced no better way to develop a true relationship than to share the pain of a near impossible uphill hike with the pleasure of watching the sun set in the middle of the woods around a roaring campfire.

Both venues, altogether different, are where you really learn about a person,” Kaplan said.

So for nine months the two planned and prepared for the trip. Kaplan, who had hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail several times in the past, planned it. The goal was to start at the beginning of the trail in Georgia, at Springer Mountain, and walk north, perhaps getting as far as Blood Mountain, 40 miles to the north

As part of the preparations, Kaplan suggested Rabbi Nemitoff exercise to get in shape. The rabbi did just that, walking on a treadmill with an incline because “there aren’t too many mountains in Kansas.” Eventually he added carrying a 25-pound backpack to his regimen. But nothing really prepared him for the trip, both physically and emotionally.

Rabbi Nemitoff said they ended up hiking about 27 miles, because they went slower on the hike than Kaplan had anticipated. Along the way, the rabbi said he learned that one person’s stroll is another person’s struggle.

“Andrew has hiked this portion of the trail before and he is in much better physical condition than I am. I would say that half of the trip went very well and I struggled with the other half, basically the uphill portion. Andrew was incredibly patient and supportive as I struggled through it. But we did it,” Rabbi Nemitoff said.

Although they encountered no bears or blisters, and their backpacks worked fine, there were challenges. Rabbi Nemitoff had not fully realized what carrying a 40-plus pound backpack during six hours of walking up and down mountains was really like. Kaplan had not fully anticipated the series of introspective questions the rabbi challenged him with throughout the journey.

Along the way, they met a cast of characters, including Jewish teens from Cleveland who were led by a 21-year-old Israeli working for the local JCC camp, a dental appliance salesman, an ex-Cobra helicopter pilot and a Jr. ROTC instructor. And, while they didn’t quite make it to Blood Mountain, they accomplished their goal: to get to know one another in an environment free of all artifice — no phones, no emails, no tables — just two guys relying on one another, cooking their food over an open fireplace, sleeping out under the stars, and walking and talking for hours at a time.

“We developed a real and strong personal connection which will help in our professional connection. You can’t get there any other way then to struggle because the struggle is where we grow,” Kaplan said. “This was about developing personal relationships. The base of everything we do, whether in business or in pleasure, starts with a personal relationship and if you have trust and respect, that’s the foundation you have to build on. Without that, you’ve got nothing.”

Rabbi Nemitoff added that the journey was their destination.

“The goal was not to get 40 miles up and down the mountain. The goal was to spend time together and get to know each other. I’d venture to guess no rabbi and president have ever done this before. It was incredibly wise on Andrew’s part and incredibly insightful that he asked,” Rabbi Nemitoff said.

Others may not need to take such a journey to forge business, or in this case congregational relationships, but Rabbi Nemitoff recommends taking such a step for everyone.

“You never know what is just around the next bend,” he said. “Sometimes we have to be willing to take the next step to see what’s around the bend. It might be more glorious and more magnificent than you’ve ever imagined. You have to have the courage to take the next step.”

As he’s told this story to others around town, Rabbi Nemitoff has been urged to share it across the country because it is a model for partnership.

“Whether it’s walking the trail or not is irrelevant. It’s creating those moments where there’s nothing artificial in between those two individuals in order to develop that close, intimate relationship where you learn how to trust one another,” Rabbi Nemitoff said. “As Andrew said, when you are able to be around the campfire or on the trail you have to trust one another, shut off all of our defenses and reveal who we really are to one another.”

As a postscript to this story, when Kaplan suggested the trail and Rabbi Nemitoff agreed, he added a caveat: that Kaplan join him in some adventure of the rabbi’s choosing. Kaplan also agreed. That trip is still to be planned, but will occur sometime in 2012. Where? The rabbi has not yet decided.

Four lessons learned on the trail

Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff never did any serious hiking before his trip to the Appalachian Trail with The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah President Andrew Kaplan. In a sermon to the congregation June 24, he explained four lessons he learned that overshadowed anything physical.

Lesson 1: “Carry only what you need. Everything else is excess burden.”

Rabbi Nemitoff explained his backpack was heavy and as he struggled with that weight, he began to understand a little better that we also go through life with extra baggage we don’t need.

“We carry stuff in our lives in terms of tsuris (troubles), and pain and angst and all it does is weigh us down. It doesn’t allow us to go where we need to go as fast as we need to get there. If we can figure out a way, unlike me on the trail, to shed that excess stuff in our lives, our lives would be a lot easier.”

Lesson 2: “Support doesn’t imply weakness but rather wisdom. Stability and balance come with help.” “One of the things that Andrew told me was when we got on the trail we would find ourselves walking sticks,” Rabbi Nemitoff said. He explained that after walking around with a 40-pound backpack a hiker needs extra support.

“Smart people on the trail use a walking stick and the same is true in life. In life we think sometimes that getting help from someone implies weakness on their part.” But, according to Rabbi Nemitoff, it’s just the opposite.

“When we allow people to help us it gives us the support we need to have balance and stability in our lives. We live in a world, in a country, that is self-reliant. That is counter intuitive to the Jewish tradition. The Jewish tradition says allow people to help you. Let people be your support so you can achieve balance and stability.”

Lesson 3: “Walk right and live happy.”

On more than one occasion, Rabbi Nemitoff was in awe of the world around him and the magnificence of nature he was seeing.

“This world is an incredible gift and we can mess with it as much as we want … but it’s only going to get as good as we allow it to be,” he said. “We should allow ourselves to discover how to have a smaller footprint in this world, to have less of an indent in it to allow it to be here for the next generation and the next.”

Lesson 4: “One person’s struggle is another person’s struggle.”

“I came to love Andrew Kaplan. …What was easy for him was incredibly difficult for me, but we did the same thing.”

Rabbi Nemitoff said the lesson here is the need to always be aware of experiencing what the other person is experiencing.

“We need to be sensitive to their needs as well as ours ... (Andrew) was incredibly patient and stayed with me every step of the way. And recognizing that in return, I realized that I was keeping him from working himself out and I tried to be sensitive to that as well.”

There are several famous Jewish author couples currently writing in the United States. Faye and Jonathan Kellerman are known for their mysteries. Ayelet Waldman and her husband, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, have received accolades. In Kansas City we have our own author duo, Sunie and Lee Levin. Both in their 80s, this couple have been writing for more than 15 years, as they keep busy during their “retirements.”

The first of the couple to have a book published, Sunie started writing as a natural growth from her life as a mother and an educator. This Paseo High School graduate was an educator before she married and had children. When her children were young, she went back to the University of Missouri-Kansas City and earned a master’s degree in special education and remedial reading.

For 22 years she owned Midwest Reading and Dyslexia Clinic, which helped children with dyslexia. She also taught Hebrew school at Congregation Beth Shalom, where they continue their membership.

Over the years her three daughters’ families increased, and now Sunie and Lee have a combined 15 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was the grandchildren who inspired Sunie to write her non-fiction books. The first was “You and Your Grandchildren,” published in 1991. It was soon followed by “Mingled Roots,” which focused on raising interfaith grandchildren.

“I was inspired to write because there was nothing out there that had the information I was interested in,” Sunie said. “When I wrote ‘Mingled Roots,’ I spoke to rabbis and priests. I interviewed people and looked up information.”

She credits her research in making her books so well read because they fill a void for the public.

“These books help people,” she said. “I have people come up to me and say things like, ‘you inspired me to make peace with my daughter in law.’ It makes me feel good … absolutely … really good.”

Sunie does her writing on a built-in hallway desk just off her kitchen. She works six to seven hours a day when working on a book.

“I am always thinking about the next book and what to do,” she said. “It helps to keep me young.”

Turning 80 this year did not slow Sunie down. She just pushes health issues to the side and moves on.

“I have never in my live been bored,” she said smiling. “Some people my age say they are so bored. My favorite expression is, ‘You can’t hit a moving topic.’ So if you are active and interested in things, you stay young.”

Her latest book came about when she and Lee started going to Naples, Fla., for the winters.

“Many were having a hard time making new friends,” she said. “Some were shy, some didn’t know what to do. So I wrote ‘Make New Friends, Live Longer….A Guide for Seniors.’ ”

Her next book will continue with topics for seniors. It will deal with the next stage of life that she herself is looking at, how to pick and adjust to a retirement community.

Although Sunie and Lee do not give each other ideas for an original book, when they proof they do offer suggestions, critiques and comments, mostly done through e-mails they send each other. Sunie’s hallway desk is across the house from Lee’s office, lined with bookcases and windows.

After 59 years of marriage — they met at the Jewish Community Center when it was located on Linwood — they work well together.

“He’s a male chauvinist,” Sunie says with a smile when explaining why he has the office. “It’s the generation.”

HISTORICAL FICTION SPECIALIST

Lee, 83, is a veteran of the Korean War. Although he worked as an insurance executive, he always wanted to be a writer and had a great interest in history. In 1978, while working, he arranged his schedule so he could go back to school, and earned a master’s degree in history from UMKC.

When he is working on one of his historical fiction books, he locks himself away in his office.

“I always write in the mornings,” Lee said. “I seem to be more alert then.”

His first book almost wrote itself.

“I wrote ‘King Tut’s Private Eye’ very quickly, in about 90 days,” Lee said. “It seemed to be on auto pilot. The other books took longer. This last book took three years, mainly on research.”
‘King Tut’s Private Eye’ came about because Lee loves murder mysteries.

“I wondered who wrote the first mystery,” he said. “I know Edgar Allen Poe … but what if someone did it before him. So I came up with the idea of a really ancient murder mystery, and an archaeologist who discovers the scrolls in Egypt.”

Lee also researches every book. Although he doesn’t stay in the library to work, he relies heavily on the library and inter-library loans. The newest book, ‘The Messiah of Septimania,’ came about while he was doing research on a different book, which now is forgotten.

“It was the result of pure accident,” he said. “I ran across information on the Jewish kingdom of Septimania. Then I discovered this incredible story about a Jewish kingdom in medieval France. It is all historically true. This king brought the Babylonian Talmud to the West; he was the Jewish uncle of Charlemagne. The Jewish Kingdom of Septimania lasted 140 years with six very able Jewish kings.”

By necessity, Lee fictionalizes the life of this king. He knows that it has happened through his research, but he does not know the how or the why. That is where the fiction came through.

The Levins Jewish roots do impact some of their writings.

“I was brought up in an Orthodox home and kept kosher,” Sunie said. “I think being Jewish is part of my writing, because I am curious about everything and I want to help.”

Lee admits being Jewish had no impact on his early writings, but the newest book is different.

“ ‘The Messiah of Septimania’ was entirely formed by my being Jewish,” he said. “It really told the story of how brilliantly and effectively Jews were able to express themselves and their culture when they had a chance to do it. This kingdom was a forerunner of Israel. It was able to be a peer of the Christian kingdoms around it, including having an effective army.”

Writing is not the Levins only professions. While their earlier books were published by well-known publishers, they have joined the growing trend of authors who are forming their own companies. Their company is Royal Heritage Press. Their most recent books are available at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.

“Fewer and fewer books are getting published by hard cover publishers,” Lee said. “They just want best sellers because of the change in the publishing industry.”

Besides writing and publishing, Sunie also wants to inspire others.

“Lee spoke to the ROMEOs, and someone came up to him and said he was bored,” Sunie said. “Well they should write their memoirs, write ethical wills for their grandchildren, write a journal for their children. I want to inspire people that even though they are in their 80s they can leave something for the next generation.”

Seeing the bundle of energy that is Noa Nave, one can understand why she could and would want to spend a summer at a Jewish day camp and teach Kansas City children about her homeland … Israel.
“Television and radio does not present Israel in the best way,” said Nave. “You only see about war and Gaza. I want to show the other side, the beaches, the people, the language.”

At the end of the summer, Nave wants the campers to “love Israel and want to go there one day.” While she’s here in Kansas City she will spend time with all 11 of the Jewish Community Center’s Barney Goodman camp groups. She will meet with each group once a week, every week, for 45 minutes, teaching the campers about Israel using a different activity each week. Sports Campers and Ma’asim Tovim participants will also have opportunities to meet with Nave.

Before coming to the United States, Nave spent six months training and studying for her time in the United States. Shaliachs, or emissaries, are carefully chosen and matched with a summer camp program. The program is voluntary and the shaliachs are not paid to come to camp, just provided with airfare, home hospitality and pocket money.

Nave said wanted to work with children, so this seemed like a great opportunity to her after she finished her army commitment. While in the army she spent part of her time as a commander with new recruits at a base called Zikim.

“I really like kids,” she said. “I like to teach in a creative way, I like to help people and teach in a different way that they did not know before.”

Nave believes her experience in Macabbi Zaer (Young Macabbi), an Israeli youth group, also contributed to her desire to work in a camp and teach about Israel.

One important thing she wants to tell the children is about the real Israel.

“When I think about Israel I think about home, beach, friends, family,” Nave said. “The way we live is very different from here. There everything moves very fast, here they chill and relax.”

“Noa has done a fabulous job defining Israel in the imaginations of all of our campers as a place of rich cultural diversity and stunning natural beauty,” said Bridey Stangler, interim director of JCC Camps. “Noa is the greatest symbol of Israel that our camp has, and we’re lucky to have her teaching our campers about the Jewish homeland!”

Although Nave is the Israeli shlicha (female emissary), she does have one thing in common with many of her campers. She was actually born in the United States and moved to Israel when she was 6 months old. Her parents, Nurit and Yehuda, had come to the United States to travel after they got married. They liked it so much they stayed and found jobs. But after Nave was born the family of three returned to Israel. Now 21, she grew up in Carmi Yosef, a town located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Six years ago she returned to the United States with her family to tour the East Coast. They went from Florida to New Jersey, but they never came to the Midwest or Kansas. Nave is impressed by what she sees here.

“The spirit they have here is amazing,” Nave said. “I am going to learn a lot as well. It is a different population than Israel. I am getting to see how another Jewish population lives. When you teach, you learn from your students. Camp started only a (couple of weeks) ago, but I am learning a lot every day.”

Nave is enjoying her time in Kansas. She will live with three different host families.

“I will spend three weeks with each family,” Noa said. “I will really get to know people better this way. I never got to do this before.”

The first family she stayed with was Norm and Alison Heisler. Ilana Heisler also works at the JCC camps.

After her time in Kansas is over, Nave plans to travel to Central America with some friends before returning to Israel to start college. She also plans to recommend the shaliach program to her younger sister, Neta.

LADIES THAT LUNCH — We got a call the other day from Beverly Friedman, who wanted to tell us about a group of Kansas City women who have been friends for more than 70 years. These long-time friends, who came together as members of the Zeta Kappa Sorority, met recently to celebrate 73 years of friendship. The sorority started in 1938 as the young women prepared to begin their freshman year in high school. Attending the luncheon were Esther (Levine) Gallas (front row, from left), Lorraine (Rudnick) Roth and Esther (Cohen) Levens. The back row includes Selma (Walker) Dreiseszun, Esther (Polsky) Horowitz, Irene (Friedman) Dreiseszun and Beverly (Goldberg) Friedman. Three members of the group were unable to attend: Shirley (Bressel) Bitner, Marilyn (Drew) Mendelson of Sacramento, Calif., and Betty (Stein) Miller of Scottsdale, Ariz.

MEET THE CONSUL GENERAL — Our friends at the JCRB|AJC know that people in the Jewish community are concerned about actions the United Nations may take this fall regarding the potential Palestinian unilateral declaration of independence. So JCRB|AJC will host the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, The Honorable Orli Gil, at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29. Gill will discuss “Israel and the United Nations: Consequences of Unilateral Declaration of Independence” at the Jewish Community Campus. The community is invited to attend at no charge. Reservations are not necessary, but welcome. To RSVP, or to learn more about this or related issues, e-mail .

GOODBYE AND HELLO — After one year of serving Temple Adath Joseph in St. Joseph, Mo., Rabbi Linda Steigman and the congregation have parted ways. Aaron Neilsenshultz is now making the trip along I-29 to St. Joseph to serve the congregation on a part-time basis. Neilsenshultz is a member of Congregation Beth Torah who has received para-rabbinic training from the Union of Reform Judaism.

ALL STARS — Next week Major League Baseball will hold its All-Star Game in Phoenix. Proud Kansas City grandfather Mel Prezant points out that he has two all-stars in his family as well, Wren and Xan Cohen. The Cohen brothers, the sons of Danielle Prezant and Yoni Cohen, are honor roll students at their schools — Indian Woods Middle School for Wren and John Diemer Elementary for Xan (my alma maters as well). Both also were named to their Nall Hills All Star baseball teams. In addition, Wren’s team won the league championship in the varsity division. The boys also make time to play competitive football and basketball.

Who doesn’t love watching a hot air balloon sail through the sky? The sky will be filled with beautiful hot air balloons of all colors, shapes and sizes next weekend, July 8, 9 and 10, when the second annual Great Midwest Balloon Fest launches at the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe.

Spearheaded by Robbie Small and her husband, Steve Small, who serve as the festival’s executive directors, GMBF’s organizing committee also includes several members of the Jewish community. Proceeds from the festival will benefit three local charities — Hospice House of Olathe Medical Park and Noble Cause U.S.A. Foundation, Olathe Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund (which benefits SafeHome, Salvation Army, Sunflower House, CASA, Olathe Special Olympics, Catholic Charities and others). Food donations will benefit Harvesters.

“We have been raising money from sponsors to cover all the expenses so we’re hoping that by the time the gates open, whatever we take in we can give directly to the charities,” Small said. “It all depends on the attendance, but we are hoping to donate thousands of dollars to charity.”

The presenting sponsors are Block and Company, Deffenbaugh Industries, Farmers Insurance Group, Ferrellgas, Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City, US Bank, Olathe Medical Center, Radio Disney and Time Warner Cable.

Ballooning in Kansas City

Small has attended the world’s largest hot air balloon festival, held in Albuquerque, N.M., several times while visiting her daughter who lives there. She enjoyed it tremendously and thought something like this should be done here in Kansas City.

“Nothing of that caliber had ever been done here,” she said.

So she started investigating balloon festivals, discovering that every state in the country has at least one.

“I found out they even have them in places like Iowa and Reno (Nevada) where the weather isn’t necessarily better than what we’ve got,” Small said.

It took less than a year for the Smalls to get the first balloon fest off the ground. It was held last year in southern Overland Park and almost 50,000 people attended the inaugural event.

Last year’s event was big and fun, but Small said they learned a lot from it. She said this year’s festival will be even bigger and better.

The most notable change is the site — the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe.

“It has terrific access. It’s right off I-35 and exit 215, which is 151st Street,” Small said.

Parking will be easier this year as well, with thousands of paved parking places located at the mall as well as satellite sites where free shuttle service will be available. (See below for detailed information.)

It begins at 3 p.m. Friday, July 8, and continues through 11 p.m. when the last band stops playing. An early morning balloon launch will take place at 6:30 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Early birds will be treated to free Krispy Kreme donuts and Parisi coffee.

The field will re-open to the public at noon on Saturday and Sunday. It will stay open until 11 p.m. Saturday night and will close following the last launch Sunday at about 6:30 p.m.

Weather permitting, Small said they estimate crowds will be as large as 75,000 for this second annual festival.

“We hope the weather will be great because typical July weather in Kansas City is hot and dry,” Small said.

Special shaped balloons including a giant pink flying pig, Humpty Dumpty, a giant rocket ship and a giant black and white panda are among those that will be featured at the festival. In addition to the balloon launches, there will be activities that appeal to both children and adults.

“We’ve got things going up in the air and we’ve got things coming down in the field,” said Small of the balloons, paragliders, giant kites and Silver Wings Skydiving Team from Fort Benning, Ga.

Two stages — one for children and another for adults — will feature live performances from Radio Disney, the Stone Lion Puppets, Rockin’ Rob and area bands including Lonnie McFadden & Guests and the Platinum Express horn band.

There will also be a rock climbing wall, face painting, balloon art and vendors selling food and wares. An entire area will be devoted to the military with attractions including a Black Hawk helicopter, a Humvee, a Bradley Junior Tank and a performance by the Mounted Horse Cavalry from Fort Riley, Kan.

Food — barbecue, Greek, funnel cakes, bakery items and even healthy choices — will also be available on the festival grounds. Area pediatrician Dr. Nan will conduct physicals on kids’ stuffed animals and dolls. Jewelry, toys and official T-shirts and hats will be sold as well.

“We tried to make it as family friendly as possible,” Small said. “Without ever seeing a balloon you will get an unbelievable amount of entertainment. We wanted to make sure that no matter what, people will have a terrific experience with so much to do.”

“But the balloons provide the magic and that’s why we are hosting a hot air balloon festival!”

Facts about three-day balloon fest

The three-day event takes place July 8, 9 and 10 at the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe. Free parking is available at the mall. Parking and free shuttle service is also available at Olathe Medical Center, the Olathe School District Activities Center, Olathe South High School and Indian Trail Junior High.

Admission to the Balloon Fest is $10 per person. Advance ticket sales are $8 per person. Kids 12 and under get in free. Advance tickets can be obtained online at www.midwestballoonfest.org, and at Kansas area HyVee locations through July 5. Tickets are also available at the gates.

On Sunday, July 10, bring five or more non-perishable items to the Harvesters Collection Area (near the GMBF entrance) and receive one-half off a single-day pass.

A $2 discount at the gate will also be available by showing “Go Olathe,” the free Olathe Chamber app, found at the iPhone App Store, the Android Market or for Blackberry at www.goolathe.mobi.

Most attractions are free with admission. Extra charges will apply to food and merchandise vendors.

Visit the website, www.midwestballoonfest.org for a complete schedule of events.

Ten years ago Steve Burnstein’s son died when he was just six months old of a genetic disorder. The “crisis of faith” he suffered during that time led him on a course of study that included, among other things, liturgy (prayer). It also led him to rabbinical school, where he was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia June 12.

When he started studying, it was simply to study. The 46-year-old Kansas City native, the son of David and Rosalyn Burnstein, decided to become a rabbi when a friend encouraged him to pursue ordination.

He was drawn to the Reconstructionist movement through its prayer book.

“I fell in love with their approach to prayer and liturgy. When I met the people at the college, I realized it was the type of community that would be a pleasure to learn with and study with,” Rabbi Burnstein said.

He doesn’t expect any drastic changes in his life now that he’s a rabbi. He will continue to serve as the director of IsraelExperts’ Center for Israel and Diaspora Education. IsraelExperts is an Israel education and travel organization that works with major organizations around the world, including Birthright Israel, in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education.

Rabbi Burnstein said his rabbinical degree will make a difference to some he works with.

“In the North American Jewish community there is a certain amount of respect for the title, although that certainly wasn’t the goal of getting it. But in my work it’s certainly the reality,” he said.

“The journey wasn’t about the title or the degree, it was about the learning.”

It took him nine and a half years to finish his journey, which Rabbi Burnstein jokes is a record for the RRC. He decided to apply to rabbinic school at the same time he and his wife Varda began the process of adopting their son Micah, who is now 10. With the timing of the adoption, he couldn’t begin school at the start of the academic year. Instead the three Burnsteins spent the spring semester in Philadelphia.

“Then we went back to Israel for what was just supposed to be the summer. While we were there the social worker we had worked with for Micah’s adoption called us and said she had another baby for us if we were interested. That process took a year,” he said. Daughter Gabi is now almost 9. Both children are of Ethiopian descent.

When he decided to continue his studies they were interrupted once again, this time with his own health issues. He had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery.

He continued to take classes “here and there,” and then the opportunity at IsraelExperts presented itself.

“It is my dream job. I get to share my passion for Israel with people and I get to work in Israel-Diaspora relations and try to bring our communities closer together and build bridges and somebody pays me to do it,” he said.

Finally, it got to the point that to finish his degree he had to come to Philadelphia for that final semester.

“Starting rabbinic school was my crazy idea. I really would not have finished it without Varda pushing me,” he noted. “She’s an absolute saint.”

Rabbi Burnstein grew up in the Conservative movement as a member of Congregation Beth Shalom. He was very active in USY, serving as the local president as well as taking an active regional role in the youth organization. He earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

“One of the most important things I learned at JTS was that philosophically, ideologically and theologically, the Conservative movement is not for me. I grew up in the movement not really understanding with any depth the meaning of the approach to Judaism,” he said.

With three degrees in tow, he began working at Congregation Beth Torah as its religious school director. He stayed six years, and while he was there he earned the Reform Jewish Educator certification.

When he left Beth Torah he worked in corporate America for a few years developing seminars.

“I learned a little bit about a lot of things, but I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. But I wasn’t sure how I wanted to get back involved in the Jewish world,” Rabbi Burnstein said.

So he took a leave of absence from his job, took a group of kids to Israel, and stayed on his own for two months.

“While I was there in 1995, I got involved with Pinat Shorashim and Kibbutz Gezer. Then I went home, closed up shop and a little over a year later made aliyah in 1997,” he said.

He met his Varda, who is originally from the Philadelphia area and made aliyah right after high school, on the baseball field at Gezer.

“She comes from a very connected Zionist family. Her dad was a crew member on the Exodus,” he said.

The Burnsteins live at Kibbutz Gezer and he has never regretted his decision to move to Israel.

“My mother-in-law says you make aliyah every day, which is very true. There’s this love-hate relationship. I love where I live. I love being in the center of the Jewish world. Living in America, when I would get upset with politics or anything else I would say ‘this is horrible.’ In Israel, you say ‘why do I live here? How can I live in a place like this?’ But we’re all trying to make a difference and make it a better place.”

In today’s fast-paced business world, it’s unusual for a person to spend his whole career working for the same company. Frank Friedman has done that and more, rising to the very top management levels of a well-known national accounting firm while keeping his home base here Kansas City.

Friedman has been named chief financial officer and managing partner of finance and administration of Deloitte LLP, a firm he has been with for 32 years. A lifelong resident and a member of Congregation Beth Shalom, Friedman is responsible for the financial operations of the $11 billion professional services organization and managing the real estate, field operations and procurement divisions comprising approximately 3,500 people. He also will serve as a member of the executive committee of Deloitte LLP.

He assumed his new position June 1 and credits his success to hard work and a good education, as well as the longevity itself.

“The attitude many people have today is that you can’t stay with the same firm and be successful for your career. I think that’s not a true statement,” he explained.

Deloitte has a strong history in Kansas and Missouri as one of the most prestigious professional services organizations, serving the region’s top companies since 1920 with more than 240 local employees. In 2010, the Kansas City Business Journal ranked Deloitte No. 2 on its list of the Top 25 Area Accounting Firms and No. 3 on its list of the Top 25 Management Consultant Firms. In May 2010, Deloitte also was recognized in Ingram’s Magazine as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Kansas City.

Friedman explained that Deloitte, together with the other member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, is the world’s largest professional services network serving client needs in audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services across more than 20 industries.

“We have over 100 offices in the States and we continue to grow most years,” Friedman said.

A 1979 graduate of the University of Kansas, Friedman went to work at what was then Touche Ross right out of college.

“The key to my success at Touche and Deloitte is that it gave me every opportunity I frankly ever wanted or desired from an accounting firm,” Friedman said.

Over the years Friedman said he has worked in a variety of challenging and different positions while climbing the ladder of success, starting out in the auditing department.

“Then I moved to tax. I had some of the best clients that one could imagine in this city. I got very involved with individuals and private companies,” he said.

His next move was to become a managing partner of the Kansas City office and then added management of the St. Louis office to his portfolio.

“Then I went off and did some national things around operations, technology, real estate and finance,” Friedman said.

About four years ago he began concentrating fully on the company’s finances.

“Eventually, and naturally, I think, I then assumed the CFO position,” he said.

The beauty of working for Deloitte or another other large firm, Friedman said, is that there are “always opportunities to try something different.”

“Although I’ve been here since 1979, once I became a partner in 1988 I’ve probably changed jobs and responsibilities every three or four years,” he said. “That’s what makes it fun and that’s what makes it challenging.”

He is proud of the company he has dedicated his adult life to.

“We pride ourselves on our clients. We pride ourselves on our growth. We pride ourselves on our people and we also pride ourselves in having good, sound, fundamental financial discipline,” he said.

Friedman said his job, in part, is to maintain and to improve the company’s financial discipline as well as to make sure it is financed for the next decade.

“I think a big piece of my job is to ensure the financial stewardship of the firm, along with our incredible board of directors. But I think in large part that’s what we’ve been doing for the last several years,” he said.

Friedman thinks his new position will be much more banking, treasury and investment related than he’s been involved with in the past.

“I will be getting much more involved in our real estate strategies, our procurement strategies and most importantly our growth strategies for the firm,” he said.

Friedman has served on a variety of civic endeavors including Health Midwest, Menorah Hospital, Overland Park Hospital, Starlight Theater, Reach Foundation, Minority Supplier Council, and the Full Employment Council. He and his wife, Sondra, have two children, Micah, a sophomore in college and Lily, a junior at Pembroke.

JOIN US AT URBAN TABLE — Urban Table, a new restaurant opening in Corinth Square on July 19, is offering the chance for 50 Jewish Chronicle readers to sample the breakfast or lunch menu for free on Sunday, July 17. The first 20 readers to e-mail Judy Lanes at will receive a reservation for two. (Don’t forget to tip your server!) Judy will e-mail the 20 lucky readers with all pertinent information. The restaurant is owned and operated by Bread & Butter Concepts, the group behind BRGR Kitchen + Bar, and is dedicated to serving good food to good people at a reasonable price. It is located at 8232 Mission Road in Prairie Village. We’ll tell you more about Urban Table in a few weeks. Until then you can check it out at urbantablekc.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

ANOTHER RABBI ON THE MOVE — Rabbi Craig Lewis, a Kansas City native (Shawnee Mission East ‘93 and KU ‘96), is returning to the Midwest to assume the pulpit of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun (the South Street Temple) in Lincoln, Neb. Having received ordination from the Hebrew Union College Cincinnati campus in 2008, Rabbi Lewis spent the last three years serving as assistant rabbi at Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot in Irvine, Calif. During his tenure there he performed a variety of rabbinic functions, including worship, Torah study and life cycle events. He also taught in the religious school and worked closely with the youth groups, the brotherhood and the congregation’s seniors’ group. Upon their arrival in Lincoln, Craig’s wife Jennifer will be the art studio program manager for Resources for Human Development, a non-profit agency that serves disabled adults. Their 3-year-old son Eden is excited to explore his new pre-school and to grow up closer to his saba (grandfather), aunts, uncles, and cousins in Kansas. Craig is the son of Stuart and Hilary (z”l) Lewis of Prairie Village.

HAPPY FOURTH —The Overland Park Rotary will host its 20th Annual Star Spangled Spectacular in Corporate Woods Monday, July 4. Several Jewish people are on the planning committee. Admission is free. All purchases made the day of the event benefit four charities: Down Syndrome Guild, Headstart of Shawnee Mission, Overland Park Rotary Club Foundation’s Youth Leadership Institute and SAFEHOME. Food and beverages will be available beginning at 4 p.m., live entertainment begins at 5:30 p.m. and the fireworks should light the sky around 9:30 p.m. The rain date is Tuesday, July 5. For more information, visit the Star Spangled Spectacular website at www.starspangledspectacular.org.

Correction

In last week’s article on the Israel pilgrimage reunion, Debbie Kershenbaum Haith’s maiden name was misspelled.