MEETING THE VP — Proud grandmother Adela Dagerman was in Washington, D.C., with her family last weekend to celebrate the graduation from Georgetown University of her granddaughter, Michelle Hammer, the daughter of Steve and Linda Hammer. The family gathered for lunch on Saturday afternoon at Café Milano, a Georgetown restaurant. Vice President Joe Biden was there also, celebrating his niece’s graduation. When Adela heard the veep was in the restaurant too, she took Michelle’s hand and led her off to meet the vice president, waltzing right past the secret service agents. Adela told the vice president that she was a survivor of Auschwitz, lost 72 members of her family during the Holocaust and wanted an invitation to the White House. He asked for her information, which she provided, and he said he would take care of it. She expects that invitation will arrive in the mail shortly!

MATCHING DONATIONS FOR JOPLIN — Many, many organizations — Jewish and non-Jewish — are finding ways to help the people of Joplin as you will see in the article in today’s issue. One effort that ends today, Friday, May 27, is sponsored by Spin! Neapolitan Pizza, which is co-owned by Gail and Richard Lozoff, Patrons at the four area SPIN! locations will be offered the opportunity to add a donation to their checks to assist victims of the devastating tornado. SPIN! will match the total donated up to $2,500. The contributions will assist Heart to Heart, which already has deployed its Mobile Medical Clinic along with volunteer medical professionals and supplies.

GIRL SCOUTS HELP MITZVAH GARDEN KC —  A Girl Scout troop at Sunrise Point Elementary school, of which two of its 10 members are Jewish (Jordan Kaseff and Sophie Bell) have donated two wheelbarrows and 50 recycle tote bags to the KC Mitzvah Garden. The wheelbarrows were used during The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah’s Mitzvah Days and the bags will be used to collect produce later in the season. Mitzvah Garden KC co-chair Ken Sonnenschein said while the garden has various benefactions, this is the first donation from a Girl Scout troop. Sonnenschein said he hopes the generosity of the troop will inspire others to get “more involved in growing good in Mitzvah Garden KC.”

NEW HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL — Next Sunday, June 5, Kehilath Israel Synagogue will dedicate a new memorial in commemoration of those members of the synagogue whose family members were murdered or suffered during the Holocaust. The dedication will take place at the Kehilath Israel Blue Ridge Cemetery at 19th and Blue Ridge Boulevard at noon.

The monument was designed by Ed Tranin and the project was spearheaded by Sam Devinki. The monument will be engraved with names of those who perished during the Shoah. It will also have a special section to memorialize KI members who were rescuers serving in the U. S. Armed Forces during World War II.

The ceremony will conclude with the unveiling of the Holocaust monument. The monument is especially significant to those people who have no graves of their family members to visit. If you wish to attend and need a ride, please contact Allegra Shanberg at KI, at (913) 642-1880. The community is invited to attend the dedication.

CORRECTION

The correct number to call for reservations for “100 Voices” at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at the Lewis and Shirley White Theatre is (913) 327-8196.

Cantor Paul Silbersher can give you several definitions of the word retire. Then he’ll tell you even though he’s officially retiring from Congregation Kol Ami as its spiritual leader, he probably won’t really retire at all. He’ll just take on another project.

You see the 81-year-old Silbersher has already officially retired once, in 2000, as the cantor of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. As cantor emeritus, he continued to work there part-time for the next three years.

Then in 2003 when Kol Ami was in its formative stages, he was asked to become the Reform congregation’s spiritual leader and has served in that capacity for the past eight years. While he uses the professional title of cantor, he is also a trained rabbi. He will be recognized as such following his retirement, said Kol Ami President Constance Bernstein, when he will begin using the title rabbi emeritus.

Bernstein said many congregants will miss Cantor Silbersher tremendously.

“He has such a magnificent voice,” she said. “His singing and cantorial skills are things we’ve grown to love and expect, and we will miss it sorely.”

Bernstein said the congregation is currently negotiating with a person to take over the spiritual leader duties at Kol Ami. She hopes the congregation will be able to make an official announcement in the near future.

Becoming a Jewish clergy

Cantor Silbersher’s career took a few twists and turns before he became a rabbi, or even a Jewish professional for that matter. At first he wanted to serve as a naval aviation cadet during the Korean War. He was accepted into the program, but the swearing-in ceremony was halted — because the program was suddenly full — just before he was about to be sworn. Instead he spent eight years in the Naval Reserve.

Next, in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, he worked as a page for the NBC television network. At that time network pages were often trained as young executives; the young man had hopes of becoming a director or a producer.

But things changed at NBC and pages were no longer being promoted. So he considered theater like his older brother. He did choose to be a performer, but on a congregational stage.

Although Cantor Silbersher was raised in a Conservative Jewish home by parents who kept kosher, he decided to enroll at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion School of Sacred Music (which is now called the The Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music). When he completed his cantorial studies, he decided he wanted to take on rabbinic training as well, so he enrolled in the pre-rabbinic program at HUC in Cincinnati.

As cantorial and rabbinical students often do, Cantor Silbersher served various congregations in Ohio, Connecticut and New York while he continued his studies. His rabbinical studies hit a few bumps in the road and he chose yet another path, earning a master’s degree in social work.

“I had a private therapy practice and at the same time I began to do interfaith weddings,” Cantor Silbersher explained. He also worked in several school situations as a social worker.

Eventually his rabbinical ordination was done privately by Rabbi Jack Bemporad and Rabbi Irving Baumol. At that point Cantor Silbersher took over the helm of a small congregation, The Fellowship for Jewish Learning in Stamford, Conn. When he came to Kansas City, he turned it over to Rabbi Mark Golub, who is now most well known as the president and CEO of Shalom TV.

As a Jewish clergyman, he has performed many interfaith weddings over the years, but said he discontinued that practice during the Vietnam War.

“I wasn’t willing to perform them then because I felt the couples who were marrying out of the faith were using it as a vehicle for anger,” he explained.

Once the war was over and he felt young people weren’t angry any more, he resumed performing interfaith marriages.

“I’m always open to the serious folks,” he said of his practice to marry interfaith couples, which he continues today.

Settling in Kansas City

He came to B’nai Jehudah in 1979.

“It was the largest congregation I ever served. Before that the congregations I was at had 300 to 350 families,” he said of B’nai Jehudah, which served as many as 1,900 families during his tenure there.

Cantor Silbersher was almost 50 years old when he arrived here and only two of his four children were still living at home.

He was no longer the cantor at B’nai Jehudah when Kol Ami came calling, but he was still working part-time there as well as serving as director of spiritual care at Village Shalom. The idea of joining a new congregation and getting it started from the ground up was something that greatly appealed to him.

“I loved the idea of being creative and the inclusiveness of new ideas,” he said.

He loves teaching and will continue to write his thoughts about Torah on a regular basis through The Chronicle. He has many wonderful memories of teaching Bar and Bat Mitzvah students, often conducting phone lessons before school started at 6 in the morning — recalled by many as Sunrise Semester — so the kids could get extra practice.

He has former students, now adults, who also fondly remember the time they spent studying and worshipping in the Mayerberg Chapel when The Temple was at 69th and Holmes.

“We used to call the kids who were missing from B’nai Mitzvah class, tell them we hoped they were well and OK, and wish them a Shabbat Shalom. They told me it made them feel good,” Cantor Silbersher said.

“These were lifetime connections we made,” he continued. “I got to know them during their formative years.”

Kol Ami’s Bernstein said Cantor Silbersher “does wonderful Bar Mtizvahs.”

“All of our Bar Mitzvah students have just excelled and learned a great deal from him,” she said.

While he has no plans to tutor any more students, he may continue taking part in other lifecycle events — whether they be happy occasions or sad ones.

“I will be open to discussing possible opportunities with the board and the new spiritual leader,” he said.

Bernstein said there is a possibility that Cantor Silbersher may indeed continue in some role with Kol Ami, possibly teaching a Torah study class.

But actual retirement is not likely. Yes, he plans to have more time to play tennis, a sport he has always loved. He’ll also try to get himself back into shape by walking and spending time at the Jewish Community Center’s sports facility.

But the better bet is that he will spend a considerable amount of time at Hope Academy Charter School in Kansas City, Mo. He is a founder and a vice president of the school, located at Zion Grove Missionary Baptist Church at 2803 Swope Parkway. The school serves students ages 16 to 21 who have chosen to return to school after dropping out. It is sponsored by the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“Education is where it all begins. If you can’t read and write, you don’t have a chance,” Cantor Silbersher said.

The school has held three graduation ceremonies and, he said, everybody there has something to cheer about.

“It’s something to experience,” said Cantor Silbersher, who plans to cheer along with them for years to come.

Retirement open house scheduled

Congregation Kol Ami will hold a reception in honor of Cantor Paul Silbersher’s retirement from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the congregation. The community is invited, but RSVPs are requested. Reservations should be sent to Carla Lieberman at or by calling (913) 499-8671 after 5:30 p.m.

Village Shalom Father’s Day Run/Walk

Good work is its own reward. But sometimes it can return many years later as an unexpected blessing, as Leslie Caplan has discovered.

As a young professional in the 1980s, Leslie joined the associate board of Shalom Geriatric Center (SGC) at the urging of her uncle Jerry and cousin Lewis Nerman, both members of the organization’s board of directors at the time. The associate board, a group aimed at developing volunteer and leadership opportunities for young Jewish adults, wanted to initiate a fundraising event to engage the community and support dementia-care programs for SGC residents.

Though it was her first experience as a member of any board, Leslie boldly suggested conducting a benefit race similar to one at the preschool where she worked. Fortunately, the idea had legs and the associate board undertook its first May Day Run in 1987. A few years later, the race date was moved to Father’s Day and it became the Beat the Heat Run/Walk.

In 2011, the race is known as the Village Shalom Father’s Day Run/Walk. Now marking its 24th year, the 5- and 10-kilometer event will take place Sunday, June 19, at Village Shalom. (For more information, see below) It is still sponsored by a vibrant associate board. And Leslie’s mother, Betty Caplan, is now one of the senior adults who is directly benefiting from programs that the race’s proceeds support.

Betty attends Village Shalom’s Great Days Social Club adult day-care program. She is there seven days a week, from morning until early evening. When Betty was diagnosed with early-onset dementia several years ago, Leslie and her brother Craig began searching for a place where their mother could spend her days involved with people and activities, but continue living in her own home with caregiver assistance.

“We looked at several places,” said Leslie, “but Village Shalom was absolutely the best choice. We wanted her to be with people who are Jewish, and she already knew some of the other day-stay participants — the Jewish connection was very important. Plus, Village Shalom provides transportation for her. No one else was able to offer that.”

Betty is not the first member of the Caplans’ family to receive care at Kansas City’s Jewish retirement community, Leslie noted: “My grandmother lived at Shalom Geriatric Center, and my aunt was at Shalom Plaza,” which were Village Shalom’s predecessors. “I have nothing but praise for all of the staff at Village Shalom. They’ve just been so caring to Mom. They’re very compassionate — they really care about the work they’re doing.”

“The program is wonderful,” said Craig. “It’s the difference that has allowed her to keep living in her own home. Especially with dementia care, it gives her activities to occupy her mind and a social environment, which you can’t do at home.”

Leslie added, “And it’s not just the day-stay program, but the other services that Village Shalom offers. For instance, it’s been extremely helpful to have Mom go to the salon at Village Shalom to get her hair and nails done. Those kinds of things were difficult for her live-in caregiver to manage.” Now they are simply a part of Betty’s familiar Village Shalom routine.

Village Shalom’s Great Days Social Club “is a much-needed service in the community,” explained Linda Harmon, director of the program. “We can accommodate up to 30 people on any given day, but we usually have 15 to 20. Some of our day-stay participants stay late and have dinner with us” before returning to their homes for the night, she said. An option to arrive for breakfast in the morning has been added recently.

“We also offer overnight respite care when there is a room available (in Shalom Suites for residential dementia care),” Harmon said. “People often use this when the home caregiver needs a break or is going out of town for the weekend.”

The day-stay experience has made all the difference for Betty who, according to Leslie, “is sleeping better at night.”

Leslie and Craig also rest easier knowing their mother is receiving the care she needs through the day while they are at work and her at-home caregiver is attending college classes.

Little did Leslie expect that the race she helped to initiate nearly two-and-a-half decades ago would be of such enormous help to her family so many years later.

“It never crossed my mind back then that Mom would end up with dementia, or that she would benefit from the work I was doing with the associate board. I’m so glad that the race is still going, and that Village Shalom is still there.”

Annual Run/Walk set for Father’s Day

The 24th annual Village Shalom Father’s Day Run/Walk begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, June 19. Race-day registration begins at 6:30 a.m. Funds raised through race sponsorships, donations and registration fees will help to provide essential support for Village Shalom’s programs and services — like Great Days Social Club — that directly benefit individuals and their families confronting the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Not only does the race attract members of the Jewish community who want to help support Village Shalom, but as an officially sanctioned race by the Mid-America Running Association, it draws hundreds of runners from all over the area, who will use their official times from this race to apply for other events.

Besides the 5k/10k run/walk that is the core of the race, participants and family members can also enjoy a children’s arts-and-crafts tent sponsored by U.S. Toy/Constructive Playthings, face painting and a pancake breakfast served by Chris Cakes.

For sponsorship opportunities, to register for the race or to make a donation, visit the race website, www.fathersdayrun.org, or call Sally Beyers, Village Shalom director of development, at (913) 266-8412.

If you are a member of the Jewish Community Center you are keenly aware that the agency has undergone a thorough reorganization from the top down over the past few years. That reorganization resulted in making the agency more fiscally responsible as well as more appealing to members and prospective members. JCC members will celebrate those successes at its annual meeting Sunday, May 22, when it installs Gary Weinberg for a two-year term as president.

“I think Bob (Grant, the outgoing president) has done an exceptional job of taking the Center, with the help of a superb staff, to turn it around financially and programmatically and really getting it going on the right track,” Weinberg said.

He said while every new board president always has new ideas and agendas, he doesn’t plan to make any significant major changes.

“My most important goal is to support Executive Director Jacob Schreiber and the staff. I’m going to have our board do that as well,” Weinberg said.

Grant believes he is leaving the JCC in good hands and that it is currently “in a period of wellness.” Weinberg notes that the JCC’s “phenomenal staff” has had a lot to do with that, having made significant sacrifices over the past several years to help reduce costs and enhance the programs that are effective.

“Financially we are in very good shape. The same can be said about our programming and our leadership,” Grant said.

In fact Weinberg said membership has increased each month over the past 40 months.

“I don’t think we’re back to historic highs, but we’re trending that way. We have more than 2,500 member units now,” said Weinberg. The all-time membership high was 2,700 member units.

Weinberg would like the new board to design a new strategic plan. The JCC’s last strategic plan was completed 17 years ago.

“But before we can begin the process, we have to have the board agree it wants to. One of the things I don’t want to do is tell our board what to do. I want to make sure it’s a collaborative effort,” Weinberg said.

Collaboration is a big word around the JCC right now. Weinberg said he believes one of the most important things the agency can do in the future is engage in more collaborative programming.

“We need to look to the community and see how to facilitate and enhance community conversations. We want to really work with other agencies and congregations and leverage the assets we have in the community,” Weinberg said.

Ken Sigman, the JCC’s incoming first vice president who will become president in 2013, added that collaboration is necessary because resources aren’t the same as they were years ago.

“I think the Center is in a very unique position in that it is an organization that serves the many in not just the Jewish community but the non-Jewish community,” Sigman said. “If we are collaborative and if our programs and our staff are exceptional in delivering services, we can be successful in making people feel that this is the place to be.”

Most recently, the JCC co-sponsored the annual Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) celebration with Kehilath Israel Synagogue and it is also co-sponsoring the 8th Day concert on Lab b’Omer (Sunday, May 22) with the Torah Learning Center. More programs in the areas of adult education, and possibly even camping, are on the horizon.

JCC Mezzuzzah Society gives donors advisory roles

The Jewish Community Center sees itself as a premier Jewish life enterprise, offering programs of excellence that enhance wellness, meaning and joy for the community. It has established the Mezzuzah Society to provide what it hopes will be the wisdom, stature and financial support required for the JCC to achieve this mission.

The Mezzuzah Society was conceived a little more than a year ago and already has 20 members. Members make a two-year investment in the agency and the donations go directly to the JCC’s operating budget. They help fund current programs, new initiatives and scholarships.

Donors to the Mezzuzah society give the same amount for two consecutive years. Categories are Guides: a minimum of $2,500; Builders: a minimum of $5,000; and Visionaries: a minimum of $10,000.

Jill Maidhof, the JCC’s associate executive director, said this is the first time the JCC has ever attempted an annual giving campaign. Gary Weinberg, who will be installed as president on Sunday, May 22, said until now Kansas City was one of only a few JCC’s in the country who did not conduct an annual giving campaign.

Weinberg said The Mezzuzah Society is important, not only because it’s beginning to develop a culture of annual giving at the JCC, but to also recognize the importance of the donors.

“We want to make sure our donors feel somewhat empowered, that they really have some insight into how successful we are. It also lets them learn what our issues are so that they can contribute their thoughts and help guide us because they care about the organization,” Weinberg said.

“It’s a vehicle to really be able to encourage that investment, talk to the people that are making that investment and then recognize them for doing it,” he continued.

The first meeting of the Mezzuzah Society was held this week. Maidhof said the meetings give these donors, who are considered to be consuls and advisors to the executive director and the president, the chance to hear first hand “the challenges and opportunities facing the Center.”

“Not only does this provide them with insider information, it also gives them an opportunity to provide some substantive input on those issues,” she said.

As Weinberg pointed out, oftentimes donors are asked for money but never given a chance to be engaged in the spending process.

“We want to engage those people and see what they think,” Weinberg said.

The Mezzuzah Society, said Ken Sigman, who will be installed this week as first vice president, helps provide funds so that the JCC can extend its services out to as many people as possible, even those who can’t afford them. This past fiscal year the JCC gave out more than $350,000 in scholarships.

“These funds help augment that. There are people due to the economic downturn that still haven’t recovered. This allows us to have a fund to make the Center appeal to those who can’t afford it right now but eventually we hope will be able to,” Sigman said.

It’s also important, Maidhof said, because funding from traditional sources continues to decrease while at the same time competition for those funds continues to increase.

“So we have to be self-reliant and replace those funds,” she said.

Maidhof said the JCC also needs to invest in itself to be able to make it better.

“It’s more and more critical that we have the right staff in the right places and that they are trained to really make people feel that this is a real special place,” Sigman added.

Cohen one of 10 Chancellor’s Award winners

David Cohen will be recognized with four awards at the University of Kansas 139th Commencement on Sunday, May 22. He has been awarded a Chancellor’s Award, the School of Business R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Award, the Greek Man of the Year from the Interfraternity Council and will carry the banner for the School of Business during commencement. He is the son of Debbi and Howard Cohen and is a member of Congregation Beth Shalom.

Cohen said receiving all this recognition this spring has been surreal. He believes being able to lead his fellow business graduates down the hill into Memorial Stadium will be an amazing honor.

“I have worked the past four years here at KU to better the community and nearly all of those actions go thankless. This was a much appreciated pat on the back for the passion that I have for the KU community,” Cohen said.
“Although the recognition is nice, I know that I have been rewarded 10 times over by the positive things I will leave behind me,” he continued. “I know that my name has been thrown around into a group of people that I respect and have been honored to work with. It feels good to share the stage with such an amazing group of students.”

Cohen is one of 13 students who have excelled academically who will carry banners for KU’s 12 schools and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at commencement. As banner carriers, the students will lead their fellow graduates in the traditional march down Mount Oread into Memorial Stadium. Banner carriers will join university officials on a platform in the stadium for the ceremonial conferring of degrees.

He is also one of 10 graduating seniors to be honored with a 2011 chancellor’s Student Award. Specifically he is one of two Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award winners. The Chancellor’s Awards recognize students’ academic, volunteer and leadership accomplishments during their time at KU. This particular award goes to a graduating student who has unselfishly contributed to the university through campus involvement. The award is accompanied by a cash prize.

Recipients will be honored at a reception Saturday, May 21. The honorees also receive special recognition during the Commencement ceremony and their portraits will be in the Commencement program.

The Chancellor’s Student Awards committee selects the winners from throughout the university from nominations submitted by students, faculty and staff. The selection committee includes students, faculty and staff.
This March, Cohen was one of six students to receive a R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Positive Code of Conduct award for outstanding personal and professional conduct in the School of Business. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. stands for responsibility, enthusiasm, self-esteem, professional integrity, equity, compassion and teamwork. Cohen has volunteered with the Alternative Breaks program serving in Israel and Tampa, Fla. A member of Hillel, he has participated in leadership and service missions to Israel. He has also worked with the ATM/debit maintenance team for the Union Bank of Missouri. He holds the rank of Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts of America.

Students were nominated by faculty, staff and students. Award winners are chosen by the Honor Council in the School of Business.

“To be recognized for this award is a great pat on the back from people that I truly admire for something that is not always easy,” Cohen said.

Cohen will receive a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is also a master’s student in accounting. While working on his graduate degree, Cohen will have an audit internship with PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP in Kansas City, Mo.

Cohen has served as treasurer of the Student Senate, managing a $24 million budget provided by student fees that serves to fund a wide range of campus activities. For this academic year, Cohen served as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate accounting course in the School of Business. This spring, he also served as teaching assistant for an introductory accounting course in KU’s School of Law.

A graduate of Blue Valley North High School, he served on the university’s anti-hazing task force and re-established Zeta Beta Tau, a non-pledging, non-hazing Greek social fraternity at KU. He has served three terms as the fraternity’s president and is a voting member of the board of directors for Zeta Beta Tau International. Cohen described the combination of his work on the university’s anti-hazing task force and hazing charges involving KU’s Interfraternity Council this past year as an invaluable experience. He said that his efforts to establish new leadership immediately within IFC taught him that the ethical decisions individuals make in private are far more vital than their public actions.

Rissien to receive 2011 Campanile Award

A University of Kansas senior recognized as a “KU superfan” by students and as the founder of KU Israel Week will receive the 2011 Campanile Award.

Matthew David Rissien, the son of Kehilath Israel Synagogue members Aaron and Shelley Rissien, will receive the $500 award that was established by the Class of 2000 to honor a graduating senior who has displayed remarkable leadership, character and respect for KU.

Rissien will graduate May 22 with a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and a minor in Judaic studies. He said the award means a lot to him.

“In my years at KU I have been fortunate enough to work in a number of amazing student organizations both Jewish and non-Jewish. To go to such an amazing school as KU, and know that I have made such a contribution on campus really is such an honor,” he said.

A familiar face to many students on campus, Rissien has served in leadership roles for Student Union Activities, the KU Info desk and KU Hillel. In his work with campus groups, he has represented KU regionally and nationally. A graduate of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, he said that “KU has taught me the networking and leadership skills to take me to the next step in my life.”

That next step included serving as the first spirit coordinator for SUA, where he was in charge of running the Hawk Zone at football games. During KU games, he was often seen near the front of the crowd wearing a Jayhawk beak.

He has also worked at the KU Info desk in the Kansas Union, answering questions from students and the public.

This year, Rissien participated in “Dancing With the Stars,” an event hosted by SUA. Students picked the participants by voting for celebrities, and Rissien was chosen as KU’s superfan. He received the only perfect score in the dance competition, but eventually lost to Baby Jay.

In his sophomore year, Rissien established KU Israel Week, or Hatikvah (the hope), a student organization aimed to highlight Israel’s culture with a week of events. The organization raised $20,000 the first year and flew in bands from Israel. The third annual Israel Week was held in April.

In 2010, he was named a KU Man of Merit, an honor bestowed by the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center to recognize men who positively define masculinity by challenging the norms.

Rissien served on the Student Senate for two years and this year was a holdover senator. This year he was honored by the Student Senate with “The Anthony Daniels award for leadership and achievement in Multicultural Education.”

In his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, he has served as the rush chair and the heritage chair. Rissien represented his fraternity at the Midwest Regional Conclave Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

As a member of Chabad on Campus, he served as a Sinai Scholars intern, planning and recruiting for the Sinai Scholars Program. In 2010, he was a KU representative for the Sinai Scholars Leadership Symposium in Reston, Va., and was campus organizer for the New York International Shabbaton.

As a member of KU Hillel, Rissien has served as a representative to the FYSH (First Year Students of Hillel) council, which plans on-campus programs for freshmen. He also was a member of the Rock Chalk Shabbat service committee and was the leader for Friday night services. He has also volunteered with Hillel Alternative Spring Break in New York City. In 2006, he was a KU representative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Saban conference in Washington, D.C., and served as the KU Hillel vice president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 2010.

Next year, Rissien will be part of the fellows program at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, N.C., America’s only Jewish pluralistic college prep boarding school. He will be working in the school during the day, and living in the residence halls at night.

SOME ENCHANTED EVENING — Johnson County Community College Foundation is celebrating its 25th fundraising gala, Some Enchanted Evening, Nov. 12. Instead of naming one new Johnson Countian of the Year for the event, the JCCC Foundation is celebrating all past recipients, from 1987 through 2010. Several members of the Jewish community are on that list, including: Elaine and the late Norman Polsky (2006); Walter Hiersteiner, (2003); Steve Rose (1999); George and Floriene Lieberman (1997); SuEllen Fried (1993); and Shirley and the late Stan Rose (1991). Proceeds from the event support student scholarships at JCCC.

MATZO BALL QUEEN — HBHA freshman Kara Kahn was crowned Matzo Ball Queen on April 30 at the 76th annual Matzo Ball Dance sponsored by Nordaunian AZA #22. The dance was held at the Overland Park Convention Center where more than 1,300 teens danced the night away. Kara will serve as this year’s queen as well as an honorary member of Nordaunian AZA. Every fall all freshman girls in BBYO are invited to interview to become a potential Matzo Ball candidate. Those chosen as candidates attend programs and events with the boys of Nordaunian AZA. During those months the girls sell tickets and sponsorships to the dance and the three girls with the highest sales are eligible to become Matzo Ball Queen. Proceeds from ticket sales go to Nordaunian AZA and other BBYO chapters, as well as to a local charity picked by the candidates. This year’s donation will go toward helping to find a cure for cancer.

JEWISH CHAPLAIN MONUMENT — A bill to establish a Jewish chaplains’ monument at Arlington National Cemetery is making its way through both the U.S. House and Senate. The House resolution now has 76 cosponsors and the Senate has 18 cosponsors. Approximately 90 Jewish organizations are supporting the initiative. This bill is expected to be taken up by the full House of Representatives on Monday, May 23. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee expects to hold a hearing on June 8. To show your support, contact your state representative or senator. For additional information, or if you have any questions about this issue, contact Shelley Rood, senior legislative associate at the Jewish Federations of North America at (202) 736-5880 or .

JPS IS TWEETING TORAH — On Tuesday, June 7, JPS will be tweeting the entire Book of Ruth using the hashtag #Torah with the hopes of tweeting #Torah to the top 10 on Twitter. For those of you who tweet (I don’t have a clue) find out more on http://jps.org/torahtweets.php. This #Torah Twitter Tool was created by JPS in a collaborative effort with CCAR Press and Davka.org.

LOOSE CHANGE CAMPAIGN — Several months ago we told you about the Novorr family and two of their efforts to repair the world. Proud papa Scott now reports that their second oldest child, 8-year-old Sophie, was so inspired by older brother Jack’s fundraising efforts for Children’s Mercy Hospital that she’s taken on a cause of her own. Ever since Scott’s trip to Haiti in November to help the young victims of the devastating earthquake, Sophie has looked for ways to help the kids as well. When she learned that children there can’t attend public school unless they have a school uniform, which many can’t afford to purchase, that became her mission. Sophie set out to collect loose change, with a goal of $50. In addition the family, along with others who support The Global Orphan Project, hosted a 5K run and 2-mile family walk in Parkville. The combined efforts raised more than $500, which Sophie is sending to Haiti to help purchase school uniforms.

MINNESOTA SYNAGOGUE HELPS MAYO PATIENTS — B’nai Israel Synagogue, a Reform congregation in Rochester, Minn., has a dual mission to serve the Jewish residents of the area as well as Jewish patients and their families who visit the city seeking medical care from the world renowned Mayo Clinic. The congregation recently held an open house and is publicizing its mission in an effort to reach out to those in the Jewish community who visit Rochester. Besides the companionship of the local Jewish community and regular religious services, the congregation can offer chaplaincy services to those in need. Because of privacy regulations, the congregation is taking this route to proactively reach out to patients and their families and encourage them to initiate a call to the synagogue. For more information about B’nai Israel Synagogue, contact the synagogue staff at (507) 288-5558 or .

An era is coming to an end.

After 40 years of worshiping at 9400 Wornall Road in Kansas City, Mo., Congregation Beth Shalom is completing preparations to shut down the building. The Conservative congregation will celebrate its last Bar Mitzvah, and Shabbat service, on July 2. Members will take time to commemorate and pay tribute to the congregation’s history and show their appreciation for Rabbi Robert Tobin and Rabbi Adam Stein, who will soon be leaving the congregation, on Saturday morning, May 21. (For more information, see below)

For a variety of reasons, including financial ones, the congregation voted in November to close the facility — which sits on approximately 45 acres at the corner of Wornall and Bannister roads. The school wing opened in 1962 and the sanctuary wing, which included the chapel, social hall, administrative offices and library, was dedicated in 1971. While the building has been for sale in the past, Congregation President Kurt Kavanaugh said it has been off the market for the past couple of years.

Now the congregation is transferring all operations and activities, including regular religious services, to the Lamar facility, which opened in December 2005. The plan is to use the Lamar facility in its current condition and configuration, utilizing other community facilities when deemed appropriate. Since that painful decision was made, several committees have worked diligently toward the goals of closing Wornall and transforming the space in the Lamar building to make it more appropriate for religious services. A long-range planning committee is also studying the congregation’s future facility needs.

Kavanaugh said as the closing of the Wornall campus draws closer, he is both sad and excited because he has “seen the enthusiasm of our congregants, staff and volunteers as we plan and begin this next chapter in Beth Shalom’s history.”

Rabbi Tobin wishes the congregation well as it prepares to close the Wornall Campus.

“It is sad to see the stately sanctuary at Wornall close, and to know that Beth Shalom faces such challenges. I pray that the transition will be to a stronger future for the community,” Rabbi Tobin said.

Worship plans

Beth Shalom has determined that the last weekday minyan service will be held on Friday morning, July 1. Plans call for minyamim to begin taking place in the Appleman Synagogue at Village Shalom Sunday evening, July 3. Morning minyan will begin at 7 a.m., Monday through Friday and evening minyan will take place at 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Sunday morning minyan will continue to be held at the Lamar building.

Goldsmith Hall at the Lamar campus is being reconfigured to provide a ritual space in the building. Except on special occasions, regular Shabbat services will be held there.

The Lamar space can hold a maximum of 325 chairs, so it is not large enough for the 800-member congregation to hold High Holiday services. This year arrangements have been made to hold the High Holiday services at the Jewish Community Campus.

“The Campus has been very gracious in providing space so we can hold two services simultaneously for our members,” Kavanaugh said.

The physical move

Some items will be moved from the Wornall to the Lamar building. A few things, such as the menorah on the outside of the building cannot be easily moved and will remain on site. Other items will either be stored or sold.

The art deco ark and seats are being taken from the Katz Chapel and will be placed on a new platform to be installed in Goldsmith Hall, along with the menorahs and reader’s table that are currently in the Katz Chapel.

Mike Rogovein, chairman of the building and grounds committee, noted that the ark and seats being moved from the Katz Chapel “were originally from the chapel at 34th and Paseo” and moved to the Wornall building when that building was sold and its new owners took possession in January 1970.

According to Kavanaugh, the ark from Wornall’s main sanctuary will go into storage. Before the building is shuttered completely, the stained glass windows will also be removed.

“Those that aren’t used at Lamar will be stored,” Rogovein said. “Our goal is not to place anything else in outside storage.”

Rogovein said that since the space at Lamar is smaller than that at Wornall, it is clear that Beth Shalom cannot move everything from it to the Lamar building.

“Our art work is being reviewed by a talented, committed committee, which will select those items that will be used and which will be stored,” he said, adding that the committee is still making those decisions.

A great number of other items, Rogovein said, such as student desks and seats, banquet tables, chairs and dishes, will be sold because there isn’t space at Lamar to store it all.

Celebration planned

Beth Shalom’s Wornall building is about to close and Rabbis Robert Tobin and Adam Stein will soon begin new chapters in their professional lives. Members of Congregation Beth Shalom will pay tribute to the two rabbis and the congregation’s 133-year-history at 9:30 a.m. Shabbat morning, May 21, in the sanctuary.

Rabbi Tobin will be moving to West Orange, N.J., where he will be the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Shalom. He and his family came to Kansas City in the summer of 2008.

Rabbi Stein, who came to Beth Shalom two years ago in 2009, announced several months ago that he has taken a new position in Australia. For financial reasons Beth Shalom’s board announced in November that the assistant rabbi position would be eliminated following the completion of Rabbi Stein’s contract at the end of June.

The celebration is being chaired by Rhea Salasche, Harold Kaseff and Sheila Sonnenschein. Dramatic readings, performed by Diane Azorsky, Jerry Fogel, Marlene Katz, Joanie Kort and Victor Wishna are on the agenda. A special “Torah Passing” will symbolize Beth Shalom’s transition from its past to its present. Leaders, both past and present, from the synagogue, Sisterhood and USY will participate in aliyot.

Beth Shalom President Kurt Kavanaugh said the community is invited to the festivities.

“Many in our community have worked with and learned from both Rabbi Tobin and Rabbi Stein. This is a wonderful opportunity to wish them and their families’ good luck in their future endeavors,” Kavanaugh said.

The group that some have dubbed the hottest new band in Jewish music is coming to Kansas City May 22 for a Lag b’Omer concert sponsored by the Torah Learning Center and the Jewish Community Center. (For more information, see below)

The band was started in 2005 by brothers Bentzi and Shmuel Marcus. That’s when its debut album, “Tracht Gut,” which is Yiddish for think positive, was released. They have played hundreds of shows across the globe, including at Lincoln Center in New York, American Airlines Arena in Miami, Universal Studios Citywalk in Hollywood, Hong Kong, Montreal and South Carolina.

“He is lead singer and I am lead guitarist,” Bentzi Marcus said.

8th Day also includes drummer Jason “Rosy” Rosenquist, bassist and Grammy nominee Phil Bynoe, and klezmer specialist Leo Chelyapov, who plays keys and horn.

Marcus described 8th Day’s sound as “very eclectic, klezmer-funk-rock band.” Lyrics are sung mostly English with some Hebrew and Yiddish mixed in.

“We have a very wide range of influences. Since we grew up in a very musical family we were exposed to a lot of music,” he said.

Marcus said that brother Shmuel, who is also a Chabad rabbi in Los Alamitos, Calif., was always a very talented writer. The group came together after Bentzi started getting serious about music.

“He (Shmuel) wrote poetry and I started putting his lyrics to chords and making songs. Our brother Chaim, who owns an advertising agency, pushed us to record and helped us produce our first recordings,” Marcus explained.

The first recording was a four-song demo, produced by Chaim.

“It started to make its way around and word of mouth spread about our little project,” Marcus said. “I remember walking in the old city in Safed, Israel, when I was in yeshivah there, and I heard our song playing from one of the houses!”

The Marcus brothers were raised in a “very Chasidic home” in California where their parents are Chabad emissaries. Marcus said he and his brothers always wanted to inspire people through music.

“But at the same time it was all about reaching out to others and bringing joy to our neighborhood. We were taught that if one was given talents and skills, they must use them to spread positivity and to promote good things,” he said.

Marcus said the name 8th Day is significant because it is transcendent, or higher than nature.

“The number seven represents nature, routine, mundane. Eight is beyond, supernatural. (Through our music) we are given the ability to transcend our boundaries and achieve great heights no matter the challenge,” Marcus said.

He said 8th Day’s current album “Chasing Prophecy” is the band’s best album “production wise” to date.

“We worked with some amazing engineers and producers, which helped us get a really good sound. We have also grown a lot as a band so, I think, the songwriting matured a lot, and each song stands on its own. The style of songs range from Middle Eastern, rock, folk/country, jazz/blues. It’s got everything. The reactions have been amazing so far, thank G-d, from the album. Our music video for the song

“Ya’alili” got close to 500,000 hits in under two months.” You can hear the song on http://my8thday.com.

TLC’s Rabbi Simcha Morgenstern thinks people will be in for a surprise if they come to the concert.

“When people think of Chasidic music they generally picture an old bearded man with a violin. I want people to see Chasidic guys playing cutting-edge music who are totally hip and can rock the house!” Rabbi Morgenstern said.

“Shmuel and Bentzi show today’s Jewish youth that one can remain true to their heritage yet still remain cool,” the local rabbi continued.

Marcus thinks people who come to the concert will get their money’s worth.

“They are in for the show of a lifetime! We don’t pull any punches when it comes to live shows,” Marcus said.

8th Day

Torah Learning Center and the Jewish Community Center present 8th Day

Date: Sunday, May 22

Where: Lewis & Shirley White Theatre

Time: Doors open at 5 p.m., concert begins at 5:30 p.m.

Advanced tickets are on sale now by calling (913) 948-2200, e-mailing or visiting www.torahkc.org. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

For someone who grew up poor in Western Massachusetts, there’s nothing like watching a preschooler grin as an adult hands them a new book. For Harold Grinspoon, that poor boy who became an entrepreneur and real estate developer, “if you pride yourself on getting a return on your business, you also want a return on your investment in philanthropy.”

Grinspoon visited Kansas City last week to meet with the Jewish Community Foundation and to celebrate the success of PJ Library, a project he founded in 2005. It has expanded from Springfield, Mass., Grinspoon’s hometown, to more than 145 communities across North America. With matching dollars from the Jewish community, every month PJ Library sends Jewish books and music CDs to families of young children, ages 6 months to 8 years old.

The only requirement — a parent or grandparent needs to request the books! And there’s no charge to the family. More than 70,000 children are now part of this innovative project, with an additional 44,000 receiving books through their preschools in Israel’s Sifriyat Pijama program.

The Grinspoon Foundation provides 60 percent of the cost to send a package containing a book or CD each month to participating families. Local donors and foundations provide another $40 per family. Greater Kansas City’s PJ Library project has more than 65 percent of the eligible families on board. Rosalie Eisen, PJ Library’s national community development director, who accompanied Grinspoon here, attributes that high percentage to successful community cooperation and generous donors.

“This younger generation wants to see community organizations cooperating,” she explained, noting that here local synagogues and organizations, the Jewish Community Center, and the Jewish Federation submit names so families can be “invited to participate.” And local donors have been extremely responsive; unlike other Jewish communities, there’s no waiting list for families who want to participate in PJ Library.

The invitational approach is obviously working. According to Grinspoon, “this is not just about books — it’s about building community.” With an intermarriage rate of more than 50 percent, Grinspoon and other Jewish philanthropists look to creative ways to engage young Jews who are detached from the organized Jewish community. “Only 28 percent of interfaith families raise their children Jewishly,” he added. But PJ Library is not just aimed at them.

Karen Gerson, local coordinator of PJ Library, related a story about a young observant family who rejected the offer to join — until she heard her friends talking about the books they were reading to their toddlers. “She was amazed,” Gerson added, “because she thought she had all the books her kids needed. She signed up immediately.”

One local parent has been raving about the program since its inception here four years ago. “My husband’s great aunt and uncle signed our son up for the program when he was born,” said Tracy Shafton.

“Our daughter just turned 3 and we signed her up as soon as she was born.”

The Shafton kids are not the only ones who get excited every month when they get their books or CDs in the mail.  Another PJ Library parent, Todd Schemel added, “These enriching books … are a wonderful way to snuggle up and end a day together in a meaningful way, exploring a Jewish perspective on how to live life. These books create so much excitement when they arrive and always inspire good conversation for us, too.

Eisen said they’ve collected more than 44,000 thank you letters from kids and their families. “A military family in Italy wrote to say as the only Jewish family in his small town, PJ Library has made a difference in helping them maintain their Judaism,” she said. But they’ve also received e-mails from Jews in large cities who, for one reason or another, weren’t involved with their local Jewish community. “PJ Library turns bedtime moments into Jewish moments,” Eisen added, no matter where the family lives.

“My husband and I think the program is extremely important,” added Shafton. “I think the biggest challenge my generation will face within the Jewish community is probably how to maintain and cultivate our Jewish identity. In my opinion, the PJ Library program directly addresses that challenge. We feel very fortunate to have the program here in our community.”

“Our donors are very supportive,” Gerson added. The local brochure boasts a long list of donors, both part of the Jewish Community Foundation and from the Jewish community at large. She sees it as a win-win for everyone. “It’s an easy sell to donors and it’s collaborative.” The initial letter from the PJ Library states that it’s “a gift” and Gerson, as well as Eisen and Grinspoon agree that: “you never know when this gift will open doors for recipients.”

Gerson also gave credit to her group of “12 amazing volunteers who plan PJ Library programs throughout the year.” In fact, there’s one coming up next month: “PJ in the Park”, scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday, June 5, at the Austin Harmon Park, 7727 Delmar in Prairie Village.

So what’s next for Harold Grinspoon? His foundation has already given away more than $72 million, and not just for PJ Library. Taking inspiration from the Container Corporation of America, which last century produced posters of great American quotes enhanced by art, Grinspoon envisions doing the same with Jewish quotes. “We hope to send 12 quotes, suitable for framing, to PJ Library families. And we’ll make larger versions available to synagogues and Jewish institutions,” he said.

Both local and national PJ Library staff and volunteers are working on keeping “graduates” of the program involved. PJ Library’s publisher, Marshall Cavendish, will launch an exclusive line of children’s books for the general public. A “PJ Library Goes to Camp” series has been introduced and “PJ Library Goes to School” is being piloted in six communities. “We get it next year,” added Gerson with a smile.

For more information or to register a local child for PJ Library, call Gerson at (913) 327-8143 or e-mail her at . To learn more about PJ Library, visit www.pjlibrary.org.

It was a trip to Israel as part of the Helzberg Fellows program that was the final step in Greg Azorsky’s decision to start a new business where he would design and sell Israeli themed T-shirts.

He calls the company Meshugge Shirts and explains on his website exactly why he decided to start the business.

“When I found the same T-shirts in Israel in 2008 that I saw in 1979, I thought it might be time to create some new ones.”

When you talk to Azorsky, you can get more details.

“When we were in Israel as part of the Helzberg group, we would go to places and could not find souvenirs we wanted to buy.”

So he started thinking about designing his own T-shirts. That’s not too big of a stretch since he is also the owner of Recognition Plus, a business in Independence, Mo., which makes promotional products, awards and custom apparel. So he already knew how to make T-shirts from his experience in this business.

“Meshugge means crazy,” his website states. But his T-shirts are not crazy. In fact business is slowly growing.

“It has been an evolving business,” Azorksy said. “I started as an accounting major and then on to law school. I stopped practicing law in 1994, and slowly have been teaching myself about this business.”

He started with a company called Audio Visual Graphics, which did CD/DVD graphics. But as that business declined, he looked for something else and bought Recognition Plus in 2004.

He designed the logo for the Jewish Arts Festival, and that started his mind working on other design ideas.

Last year, 2010, was the birth of Meshugge Shirts. He had been working on design ideas for a while. But it was not until last year’s Yom HaAtzmaut celebration that he actually had T-shirts with five different designs to sell. By the Jewish Arts Festival, he had eight designs.

Now, in time for the Lag b’Omer celebration, which will be held 7:30 p.m., May 22, at Leawood’s Gezer Park, he will have many more designs including a T-shirt designed with the sculpture at the park on it.
He has three types of T-shirt designs: vintage shirts that use designs bringing up visions of the founding of Israel; modern shirts with sayings that he thinks of, and state shirts.

His first T-shirt had the “.il” that is at the end of an Israeli website. He thought this would be a good indication of Israel. After reading the book, “Start-Up Nation,” and learning about how Intel is one of Israel’s largest private employee, he came up with the “Israel Inside” design. His ideas for shirts continue to grow, and now he has more than 20 designs.

“I think that the shirts are very creative,” said Lilach Nissim, the Israeli shlichah to Kansas City who proudly owns one of the shirts. “It is a possibility for the community to say how proud they are to be Jewish and proud of the state of Israel.”

“It is fun for me as Israeli to see people from the community wear those shirts,” she added. “It is like a ‘private joke’ among Jews, and it’s great.”

He also makes T-shirts in college colors with the name of the state in Hebrew letters. Usually someone asks if he has a shirt for a certain state, and then he makes one. A friend asked for Texas, so he came up with several designs. But he does not use any college logos or designs.

Currently Meshugge Shirts does most of its business online through his website (www.Meshuggeshirts.com) and Facebook page. He’ll also sell shirts at a local event, such as the Lag b’Omer picnic. His dream is to open a store in Israel, but he doesn’t know when that will happen.

He is also looking at putting other art or designs on items, since he has the capabilities to do this in his business. And he has been speaking with Jewish artists to put their designs on T-shirts as well.

“I am pleased with the reaction I am getting,” Azorsky said. His business has more than 200 fans on Facebook. The majority are teenagers, who are not yet buyers. But he is hopeful for the future.