MADAME PRESIDENT — We extend félicitations (congratulations) to Cyprienne Simchowitz, who has just been elected to a two-year term as president of the Alliance Française de Kansas City. Simchowitz, an international business consultant and an attorney who owns CYSIM International, is a native of Paris, France, and has lived in Kansas City for 28 years. AFKC is an organization dedicated to the appreciation of the French language as well as Francophone culture, history and art. The Alliance provides opportunities for members and interested people of the area to get together on a regular basis to exchange ideas as well as increase their knowledge of the Francophone world.

FROM MAMA’S KITCHEN — Congregation Kol Ami recently published “Memorable Recipes,” a cookbook to raise funds for the Reform congregation featuring 152 treasured recipes all contributed by congregants. Committee member Anita Hampshire said many of the recipes were “handed down from our mothers” while others are favorites that the cooks picked up here and there through the years. The book sells for $15 and can be purchased at Kol Ami, 7501 Belinder in Prairie Village or at the 42nd Annual Symphony Designers’ Showhouse gift shop until May 22. It’s located at 1000 Westover Road in Kansas City, Mo. For more information contact Kol Ami at (913) 642-9000.

DIPS AND DIVES — Congregation Beth Torah member Randal Strong-Wallace opened an exhibit for roller coaster lovers last week, which runs through May 28 at the Blue Djinn Gallery. It features working models of the five roller coasters from Kansas City’s World of Fun in 1980, plus a special exhibit of photographs. A meet the builder reception will take place Sunday, May 15, from noon until 5 p.m. If you miss this exhibition, you can catch another exhibit at Union Station beginning June 1. The gallery is located at 1400 Union Avenue in Kansas City, Mo. The exhibit runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information visit www.docsnyderprints.com or call (816) 518-4649.

OPEN WIDE — Chris Merriweather, DDS, a dentist in Overland Park, recently spent time in Jerusalem volunteering at the Trudi Birger Dental Clinic through a special program called Dental Volunteers for Israel. DVI provides free dental care and oral health education to thousands of needy children in Jerusalem every year, regardless of race and religion, thanks to the support from friends and visiting volunteer dentists from around the world. Volunteer dentists from around the world, together with their Israeli colleagues, perform between 1,000 and 1,200 treatments each month. To make a donation or to volunteer like Dr. Merriweather, visit http://www.dental-dvi.org.il or email .

Members of Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner take pride in calling their congregation a welcoming, caring and spirited Orthodox congregation. Its leadership wants more people in the Jewish community to experience that without worrying about financial obligations, so it’s throwing open its doors and offering free membership for a year to any Jewish individual, student, couple or family.

“Part of our mission is to inspire our members and all Jews in the community and we’ve found that getting people into the congregation is a great way to do that,” said BIAV President Andy Ernstein. “Everyone that comes here for a Shabbat, whether it’s a Friday night or a meal or Shabbat morning, constantly tells us what unique and wonderful experiences they had and we want to share that with more Jews across the community.”

The free membership package includes the following:

• Free High Holiday tickets for the new members’ immediate family

• Free Passover seder

• Free weekly youth programs and education, and

• Free adult education

Debbie Graham, BIAV’s membership vice president, said the congregation has decided to make the effort to expand its membership from both inside and outside the local Jewish community. In March, several members of BIAV’s membership committee traveled to New York to promote the Orthodox congregation and the Kansas City area at the Emerging Jewish Communities Fair sponsored by the Orthodox Union.

While many congregations are struggling with their operating budgets these days, Ernstein said BIAV can afford to offer these free memberships because the “offer is an investment in our future.”

“We are blessed to be in a relatively stable financial position such that we can make this investment and are already increasing programming each year. We are also making modest building renovations including our youth wing, kitchen, sanctuary entrance and the green footprint of our facility. We are confident that as individuals in the community experience what BIAV has to offer, the enthusiasm and vibrancy of our community, we will gain committed members who will be with us in the long term,” Ernstein said.

Every walk of life

BIAV currently has about 110 member units. Ernstein points out that while they often joke that BIAV is no longer “your grandfather’s congregation,” it reaches out and has a spot for people of every single age group. Members include singles, young families, empty nesters and seniors.

Young families have been particularly drawn to the congregation in recent years. Rabbi Daniel Rockoff, who joined the congregation three years ago, points out that there’s been a birth in the congregation every month since August. He and his wife, Ayala Zoltan Rockoff, a school psychologist, have been a part of that baby boom adding a second son to their young family recently.

“BIAV really spans the spectrum, from accomplished community leaders, to young adults, to families with young children. Our parking lot is lined with strollers every week,” Rabbi Rockoff said.

While the congregation is certainly Orthodox, it doesn’t turn people away if they are not strictly shomer Shabbat (Sabbath observant).

“My husband and I drive (on Shabbat) and I don’t feel different or left out in any way,” Graham points out.

“We’ve got Jews of every walk of life,” Ernstein added. “We’ve got people who attended yeshiva to those with virtually no Jewish education at all.”

For those who may be a little timid attending a Shabbat service at the congregation for the first time, Rabbi Rockoff said that members are more than happy to sit with visitors and lead them through the prayer book and show them the choreography of the service.

BIAV also keeps up with all the social media trends. It has a website, www.biav.org, and a presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Attractive programs

Both Ernstein and Graham believe non-members will be enticed by the variety of programs the congregation offers. The newest is called Perek in the Park, where Rabbi Rockoff honors the tradition of reviewing the chapters of Pirkei Avot between the holidays of Pesach and Shavuot. It is held at 6 p.m. on Shabbat at Brookridge Park.

“It was great to see a couple dozen kids playing and on the swings while we studied,” Ernstein said. In addition to Jewish study, there are social gatherings such as pizza and sushi nights and even basketball and yoga for men.

Most programs are congregant driven.

“If there’s a need or a want, we’ll do it,” Graham said.

Because the congregation has so many young families with children, Shabbat programs are offered for children of all ages, including adolescents.
“Everyone has something to do and they have friends here. It’s really a very vibrant place to be,” Graham said. Those programs including babysitting, a group for toddlers to Pre-K, a junior congregation for pre-Bar Mitzvah age and Shabbat B’Yachad for parents with tots under age 2.

For those who don’t choose to join during this membership drive, Ernstein noted that High Holiday services, which typically require congregational memberships to attend at other congregations except the Lubavitch ones, are free to anyone in the community who needs a place to worship.

The energy and passion of youth

Ernstein thinks the enthusiasm Rabbi Rockoff brings to BIAV is also a reason for people to check out the congregation.

“I think he and his wife bring the energy and passion of youth. But they also seem to have the wisdom and thoughtfulness well beyond their age, and it’s a great mix,” Ernstein said.

The rabbi’s contract has just been extended another three years and, Ernstein said, “we hope he is here for much, much longer.”

Rabbi Rockoff enjoys the synagogue as well, calling the members “a very special group of people.”

“I’ve been in many other synagogues around the country before I came here, both visiting as well as in various employment statuses. There are wonderful people in every place but there is very much a special spirit that exists at BIAV that I and my family appreciate ourselves. I think people in the congregation appreciate it and people who visit it appreciate it. We want to share that with others in Kansas City who may be interested.”

When it’s time for an assistant pulpit rabbi to move on to his next opportunity, he usually has to move hundreds of miles away. But when the time came for Rabbi Neal Schuster to leave The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah a couple of years ago, he got lucky and didn’t even have to move his family into a new home. Instead he drives about 70 miles round trip to serve as the rabbi/senior Jewish educator for the University of Kansas Hillel in Lawrence.

(For information about the adult education class at the Jewish Community Center, see below.)

As a member of the Hillel programming team along with Executive Director Jay Lewis, Malinda Kimmel and Carly Brown, he said he works within lots of different contexts. Those include being an educator and an adviser. He truly loves all the aspects of this job.

“I really love what I’m doing. I’ve said more than once this is the kind of work that I became a rabbi to do. I’m very happy,” Rabbi Schuster said.

He finds his work with students both interesting and exciting. He’s led students on Taglit-Birthright Israel trips during winter break the past two years, and even though he’s lived in Israel, those trips have made an impact on his life.

“You get to see Israel through the eyes of those seeing it for the first time,” he said. “It’s also amazing that a place like KU is bringing a full busload of 40 students to Israel. It’s definitely a sign of the strength of the Jewish community here,” said the Seattle native, who lives in Overland Park with his wife, Tamara, and their three children.

In an advisory role, he works with students both individually and in small groups. His work with students, he said, is fun, interesting and exciting.

“The one-on-one conversations and the small groups are both very powerful because you get to connect and interact with the students on a deeper level in a lot of ways. You really get to see an impact that you are having in their lives,” he said.

He especially loves getting to know the students, and hear their own personal stories. In fact that was one thing that drew him to “this work” in the first place.

“When kids go away to college, it’s a mystery to most people what happens there. I have this opportunity to really see into that in a very powerful way,” Rabbi Schuster said.

The teacher

While he’s not the only rabbi in Lawrence — there’s also Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel at KU Chabad — students visit with him both for pastoral reasons as well as educational ones.

“Sometimes students have Jewish questions they want to talk to me about or they want to discuss a personal issue they are dealing with,” Rabbi Schuster said.

“Other times they come for academic help. Sometimes they want input or advice about a paper. Sometimes they want to interview me. And they don’t want help with exclusively Jewish classes, which is kind of fun,” he continued.

This year he actually taught a class through the university as well, called “The Story of the Talmud.” He’ll be condensing that semester-long class so it can be presented for adults at the Jewish Community Center beginning May 16. (For more information, see box)

The course is framed as the story of the Talmud versus a typical intro class because Rabbi Schuster thought it would be an interesting way to approach the material.

“At one end of the timeline we have the emergence of the Torah and the biblical text. At the other end we have the emergence of these phenomena that are the Talmuds. The question really is what happened in between? How did we get from the Bible on one hand to this absolutely unique collection of texts of this utterly unique literature at the other end of the timeline? We also discussed what has happened since, how it has been used and understood over the ages,” he said.

Teaching the class in KC is a way for Rabbi Schuster to maintain his connection with the community.

“I’ve always loved the teaching that I’ve done in Kansas City and the timing works out right now for me to do it. I really enjoy teaching this course and I think it is something the people in Kansas City will enjoy as well,” he said.

Developing Jewish adults

Besides building a strong and robust Jewish life on the KU campus, Rabbi Schuster pointed out that KU Hillel’s other main mission is to develop Jewish adults.

“One of the challenges of that is that we don’t get to see the extent of our successes until several years down the line. But that just makes it that much more important for us to maintain those connections and relationships when students leave school,” he said.

He explained that oftentimes students will turn to Hillel staffers for advice or guidance, whether it’s for a job search or a new community. No matter what, Rabbi Schuster said, “we become a very important part of their lives.”

In the short time the rabbi has been with KU Hillel, he said he has developed many personal relationships with the students. So his heart feels a little tug as the seniors prepare to venture out on their own.

“It’s kind of sad to see them go but it’s also very exciting to see them going off to somewhere to do something.”

The Story of the Talmud’

Four classes taught by Rabbi Neal Schuster will be held from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. on Mondays, May 16 and 23 and June 6 and 13. Register online by visiting www.jcckc.org or call Gail Odgers at (913) 327-8002. Those interested in receiving e-mails regarding the Department of Adult Jewish Learning should also contact Odgers.

Tamara Schuster has a framed quote on her desk at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, where she is the director of admissions, which describes her overarching goal in nearly every aspect of her life. The quote, from the Jewish Outreach Institute, reads: “I pledge to reach out and welcome everyone interested in finding Jewish meaning and community, wherever they may be on their journey.”

“I think it goes back to my family moving so much,” she explained. “My dad was in management with Avis Rent-A-Car. I lived in five states by the time I was 12. The one constant in my life was the synagogue. It was one of the first things we connected to wherever we lived. ”

Schuster was starting eighth grade when her family settled in San Diego, where the synagogue and all it offered — preschool, religious school, B’nai Mitzvah, confirmation and youth group — remained the constant around which her life revolved.

Right before her senior year at San Diego State University, after spending the summer as a CIT adviser at a Reform Movement camp, she announced her plan to change majors from fashion merchandising to religious studies. “When I realized that my avocation should be my vocation, people wanted to know what took me so long,” she said.

From LA to KC

Schuster spent the next year in Israel and two more at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, graduating in 1992 with double master’s degrees in Jewish education and Jewish communal service, leading to a job as director of education at Temple Beth Torah in Ventura, Calif. At Beth Torah, she received a phone call from Neal Schuster.

“Neal and I had grown up going to Camp Swig in Saratoga, Calif., and had a summer romance when were on the staff together in 1987,” she said. “But we were young and went our separate ways for eight years.”

Meanwhile, Neal, who was from Seattle, had gotten a job recruiting high school students to go on Israel trips sponsored by the Reform Movement. In 1995, he was relocated to Los Angeles and was calling rabbis and educators to set up meetings to promote the Israel program.

“Is this the Tamara Lawson who I went to Camp Swig with so many years ago?” he asked upon reaching her. They were engaged soon after they started dating, married in May 1997, and left for Israel a few weeks later for Neal’s first year of rabbinical school. Ordained and named assistant rabbi at Congregation B’nai Jehudah, the couple moved to Kansas in 2003.

Once settled, Schuster was offered the opportunity to serve as the director of the Genesis program for interfaith couples that had been launched by the JCC’s Department of Adult Jewish Learning under Rabbi Amy Wallk Katz. “The Genesis program intrigued me,” she said, “because so much of my work in Reform congregations had been with interfaith couples and their children.”

For Schuster, one of the most satisfying outgrowths of Genesis was the Jewish Outreach Institute Mother’s Circle program for women who are not Jewish but partnered with Jews and committed to raising their children Jewish. “What I loved about it was offering these remarkable women a program just for them as a ‘thank you’ for giving the Jewish community the “gift” of their children, as well as seeing the connections women made with each other,” said Schuster, who had lobbied for the program to be brought to Kansas City. She and several former participants still get together on a monthly basis to learn and support each other.

The glue that unifies

Whether it’s Genesis and the Mother’s Circle or the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, the common thread for Schuster is a passion for bringing women together across affiliations and backgrounds to celebrate and appreciate Jewish learning.

Schuster dates her first involvement in the Jewish Federation back to college when she served as the campus chair of fundraising for the United Jewish Appeal (now Jewish Federations of North America), the umbrella organization of Federations. She remembers the trip to Israel with other campus leaders as her first extended encounter with all streams of Judaism.

In the fall of 2003, Schuster attended B’not Kehillah, the Federation’s leadership program for young women sponsored by Women’s Division, and was excited shortly thereafter to participate on a Yad b’Yad program panel of Jewish professionals speaking about their Jewish journeys. This year, she helped plan the Tu b’Shevat Seder.

Yad b’Yad is Women’s Division’s educational series, now in its 17th year, that provides opportunities for all women in the Jewish community to come together to explore Jewish values, texts and culture. Schuster has served on the Yad b’Yad steering committee for the past three years and is also active on the PJ Library committee. Additionally, she recently joined the youth committee of Congregation B’nai Jehudah.

With three young children and her job at the Hebrew Academy, Schuster finds time for the Federation, she says, because it’s the “glue that unifies our entire Jewish community. It’s a place where Jews of all denominations, observance levels and backgrounds can be comfortable, learn about the community, connect and give back.”

In other words, for her, the Federation makes the perfect partner in pursuit of that goal she keeps framed on her desk — to reach out and welcome everyone interested in finding Jewish meaning and community, wherever they may be on their journey.

Tamara Lawson Schuster

Born in Miami, 1966
Patrick Henry High School, San Diego, 1984
San Diego State University, B.A., Religious Studies, 1989
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles, M.A., in Jewish Education, M.A. in Jewish Communal Service, 1992
Married to Rabbi Neal Schuster, 1997
Lives in Overland Park
Children: Eliana, 10, Ayelet, 8, and Judah, 5
Recent Reading: Bon Appetit and Cooks Illustrated Magazines
Favorite Movie: “Singing in the Rain” or “Mary Poppins”
Favorite Jewish Food: latkes (she’s a vegetarian)
Trips to Israel: Five (including two year-long stays)
Pets: Oscar the dog, and 2 guinea pigs, Cinnamon and Kevin
Synagogue Affiliation: Congregation B’nai Jehudah

Readers of the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle, who present the ad on Page 6 of this week’s edition, will be able to view the “Diana, A Celebration” exhibit at Union Station for just $15 on Tuesdays, May 10 and May 17. Regular admission for the exhibit is $18-$23.50. The exhibit will be on display through June 12.

The discounted price is good all day both days. The exhibit opens at 9:30 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m.

On these days only, and with the ad, Chronicle readers will receive a complimentary audio wand tour.

In addition Chronicle readers are invited to attend an English tea, served at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. A full menu, for $17.50 per person plus service fee and sales tax, is served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The menu includes full teas and coffee as well as salads, petite sandwiches, English cheeses, grapes, berries and assorted British biscuits.

A light tea is served from 2 to 4 p.m. Besides tea and coffee, the menu includes an assortment of scones served with sweet butter, clotted cream, marmalade and preserves. The light tea sells for $10 per person plus service fee and sales tax. A 48-hour advance reservation, including payment, is required for the teas. For reservations, call (816) 765-4707.

The award-winning exhibition Diana, A Celebration, chronicles the life and work of Diana, Princess of Wales. This is a rare and final opportunity to see this exhibition before it leaves North America to return to the Althorp Estate. The exhibition presents the life and humanitarian work of one of the 20th century’s most remarkable women through nine galleries containing 150 objects — ranging from her royal wedding gown and 28 of her designer dresses to family heirlooms, personal mementos, paintings and rare home movies and photos. The exhibition is on loan from the Althorp Estate, the Spencer family’s 500-year-old ancestral home.

Tony Cook, marketing and public relations manager for Union Station, said the visitors should reserve about an hour for the tour.

“Enjoying tea along with the exhibit should be a very enjoyable experience,” Cook said.

For more information about the exhibit, visit www. unionstation.org/diana.

QUEEN OF GIVING — Nordaunian AZA held its annual Matzo Ball Saturday night. After being crowned queen in 2010, Meryl Engle dedicated her philanthropic efforts to Head for the Cure. She chose the charity because brain cancer was all too familiar to her and many of her friends. She worked with her uncle, Jim Engle, owner of James Engle Custom Homes, to build a house and donate the profits to HFTC. Meryl personally worked to engage a plethora of subcontractors to provide their services and supplies at no cost or at a reduced cost. In some cases, subcontractors even contributed a donation. During Saturday night’s festivities, she presented a check for $57,365 to HFTC. Meryl is the daughter of Teala and John Engle.

Kara Kahn, a freshman at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and the daughter of Fred and Sherri Kahn, was presented the 2011 crown.

CHAI CELEBRATION — The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education will honor the Jewish community’s Holocaust survivors in celebration of its 18th anniversary on Thursday, Nov. 3, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The evening will feature a performance by musical legend Marvin Hamlisch. More information regarding this grand night of entertainment and celebration will be available soon!

SAVE THE DATE — Matisyahu, known as an American Chasidic Jewish Reggae musician, is coming to Crossroads KC at Grinders on Thursday, July 7. Stay tuned for more information.

MOTHER’S DAY RADIO — Ron Zoglin and Deborah Shouse recorded two Mother’s Day stories that were aired on Jabulani Leffall’s Central Standard yesterday (Thursday, May 5) on KCUR-FM, 89.3. We’re told the recordings can also be accessed on the station’s website, www.kcur.org.

AEPi ROCK-A-THON — The Alpha Epsilon Pi Jewish fraternity at the University of Missouri-Columbia recently held its annual Rock-A-Thon raising more than $80,000 for The American Cancer Society. That’s the the largest amount raised by this bi-annual fundraiser to date. This year’s rocker, Lenny Goldman of Buffalo Grove, Ill., rocked for 63 consecutive hours. Kansas Citian Jeff Mallin was the fraternity’s rocker 30 years ago. In support of the event his mother, Beverly Mallin, quit smoking when her then college-age son stood up after completing the 63-hour-rocking-marathon. Jeff Mallin stopped by to support the event again this year and to visit his son and Beverly’s grandson, Zach, a freshman member of AEPi.

FEDERATION TO HELP
SOUTHERN U.S. — The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City has opened an emergency relief fund to provide aid and support to the victims of the more than 100 tornadoes that ripped through the Southern U.S. earlier this week. In conjunction with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), and the Birmingham Jewish Federation, we are working to support relief efforts.

Credit card donations may also be made over the phone by contacting Gail Weinberg at (913) 327-8123. Donations may be mailed to: The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, Att: Tornado Recovery Fund, 5801 W. 115 St., Suite 201, Overland Park, KS 66211.

Jerusalem native Lilach Nissim arrived in Kansas City in early November as the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s fourth Israeli shlicha (Hebrew for female emissary). Her main job here is to educate Kansas Citians about Israel. Twice in the course of the next two weeks she’ll have a chance to give people a taste of Israel at citywide events — Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) and Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day).

Many Kansas Citians know all about Yom HaAtzmaut, which will be celebrated here on Tuesday, May 10, at Kehilath Israel Synagogue. For years the local Jewish community commemorated Yom HaZikaron, which honors IDF soldiers and civilian victims of terror attacks, at the very beginning of the Israel Independence Day festivities. But a few years ago Kansas City’s Israeli community, which numbers about 20 families, and the Israeli emissary decided the solemn occasion deserved to be marked separately. This year that service takes place Sunday, May 8 (see below).

Nissim said Yom HaZikaron is a very, very important day in Israel. It’s also something that is really hard to explain to Americans because there really isn’t anything like it here. In her opinion, the only thing she can compare it to here are ceremonies that commemorate 9/11.
She believes Yom HaZikaron continues to be important because Jews are not done fighting for a Jewish state.

“This day is something that is not taken lightly even today, 63 years after the establishment of the state. It is something that we are still fighting about.And people are still giving their lives so that we can have a Jewish state of Israel,” she said.

Nissim said everyone in Israel understands the importance of the day.

“Everybody knows people that gave their lives for the country. Everybody’s brothers and fathers and friends and neighbors (were in the army). My brother nearly died in the army several times,” she said.

“For us the day is something very, very personal and it makes us appreciate freedom and what we have,” she said. “We understand people are giving their lives for a cause, and that cause is not only military. It is for us to be better people, for the country to be more successful and more moral. We don’t want them to die in vain, so this is a very big issue in Israel.”

The most important message Nissim hopes to convey to people when she talks about Yom HaZikaron is that the day should not be important just in Israel.

“Soldiers are fighting for the Jewish state. And the Jewish state is something that belongs to the entire Jewish people, whether they live in Israel or not. I really want people to understand this is a significant day for all Jews.”

The commemoration

Nissim explained that Yom HaZikaron is “our annual reminder of the price we have to pay to live in Israel, to have a Jewish state.”

That is why Yom Hazikaron is always scheduled a day before Yom HaAtzmaut.

“It combines the sorrow and happiness of living freely in a Jewish state,” she said.

In Israel Yom HaZikaron begins at 8 p.m. with the blare of a siren.

“Everybody stops what they are doing and stands in silence for 1 minute. The next morning, at 10 a.m. another siren blasts for 2 minutes. Again, everyone stands together to remember and honor the soldiers and civilians. I cannot explain it in words … it is a kind of solidarity that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.”

Nissim said people in Israel stop what they are doing when the sirens blow no matter where they are.

“On this day in Israel, people stop their cars in the middle of the highway, to get out and stand in the middle of the road in silence. There are no television commercials that day, no funny things on the radio. The only things you hear are stories about the soldiers and civilians who died, and songs written about them.”

Nissim said she is from a strong Zionist family. Her father served in the army for 28 years. She and her siblings also served. Before she came to Kansas City, she worked as a youth coordinator and manager of a youth center for children at risk in missile-torn Sderot.

“Daily, I saw children and adults missing limbs from rocket attacks when I lived in Sderot. It made it easy to understand the truth about life … how fragile it is.”

Nissim encourages all members of the community, whether or not they have attended a Yom HaZikaron service before, to experience this year’s memorial service.

Yom HaZikaron

Organizers hope about 300 people will attend the memorial service, which takes place at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 8, in the Jewish Community Campus Social Hall. In addition to the service, which will include songs, stories and Officer Amit Fisher, an IDF soldier currently based in Leavenworth, Kan., attendees will have a chance to view photos, stories and letters from fallen soldiers, and light a remembrance candle in honor of the many who have died.

For more information about the Yom HaZikaron service, go to www.jewishkansascity.org or call Lilach Nissim at (913) 327-8124. It is sponsored by the Israeli Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City and the Israel emissary.

“It is an honor to remember the many Israelis who have given their lives to protect their country.”

As the specialist and congregation consultant for the North American Reform movement in the program areas of caring community and family concerns, a major part of Rabbi Richard Address’s work has been in the development and implementation of the project on sacred aging. This project has been responsible for creating awareness and resources for congregations on the implication of the emerging longevity revolution with growing emphasis on the aging of the baby boom generation. This aging revolution has begun to impact all aspects of Jewish communal and congregational life.

Rabbi Address will be in Kansas City on Thursday, May 5, to give a presentation titled, “To Honor and Respect.” It is one of three seminars being held in conjunction with Older Americans Month, co-sponsored by Jewish Family Services. (See below)

He said programs regarding sacred aging are necessary these days, pointing to the growing numbers of older adults. According to the Administration on Aging of the Department of Health and Human Services, 39.6 million people were 65 years or older in 2009. That represented 12.9 percent of the U.S. population. By 2030, the number of older Americans will grow to about 72.1 million older persons, which will make up about 19 percent of the population.

Rabbi Address said one of the most popular aspects of the sacred aging program the Reform movement has designed is caregiving and the impact it is having on the baby boomers. For that age group he has found, “if you aren’t doing this now, you have done it or you will do it. Everybody is going to get a turn at caregiving.”

He said the workshop, which is free and open to the Jewish and general communities, will focus on how classic Jewish texts guide and inform people on “the art of caregiving.”

“We’re really going to look at how we can approach, using the classic texts from the Bible, this whole phenomenon of caregiving. The title is based upon the quotation from the Torah, ‘to honor and respect,’” Rabbi Address said.

The greatest challenge to his work, he said, is getting out the information about how powerful the Jewish tradition is when it comes to sacred aging.

“Really in its ancientness it anticipates everything that people are going through,” said the Reform rabbi, who was here in November as a scholar in residence at Congregation Beth Torah.

One of the things Rabbi Address said he enjoys while he’s teaching about Jewish tradition and its approaches to caregiving is the opportunity to learn people’s stories.

Rabbi Address has some personal knowledge in the area of caregiving, as he has taken care of his mother, who now lives in a nursing home, for about 20 years. He’s learning that caregivers are tired, frustrated and stressed. As an example he explains a conversation he recently had with a man in his early 60s.

“He said, ‘This was supposed to be the time that I was supposed to have everything and now I’m working harder than I’ve ever worked before. I’m taking care of my 88-year-old parent. I’m heavily involved with my kids. I’m driving carpool for my grandchildren. This was supposed to be my time.’ ”

He said the seminar is geared toward people who are looking to find ways to “carve time out for me.” Many caregivers today, he said, are saying, “I’m losing part of myself in this.”

Along those same lines, Rabbi Address said caregivers are often faced with conflicts between caring for a loved one and caring for his or her own family.

“Who takes precedence between the person needing care and the demands of my husband, or my wife, or my children? A lot of times people feel they are being pulled in so many different directions and then they wonder, what about me? Who is taking care of me?”

The rabbi hopes this seminar will help people in these situations learn how they can take care of themselves spiritually.

Another point of discussion will be how roles can change once a caregiving situation arises.

“Sometimes you’re the daughter and sometimes you will be the parent. It’s an interesting dance,” he said. “There’s a real fine line of when you don’t take away someone’s dignity. There will be times that you may be put in the position that you may have to negotiate that dignity, which I am doing now with my mom in the nursing home, which is undignified. So many people are living it. And there is no right or wrong.”

He pointed out that there is no text book for people to follow, and the paths caregivers take are often very different. He gives the example of two friends.

“As they sit and discuss things over coffee, they will find that while their situations are similar they are radically different because there are different people involved, who bring to the table different universes and different experiences.”

May 2011 Older Americans Month

In honor of Older Americans Month KC4 Aging in Community, and its partner organizations, is sponsoring three events which are free and open to the community.

Caring for Your Family and Friends, featuring Rabbi Richard Address, will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Social Hall of the Jewish Community Campus.

A late afternoon seminar will also take place from 4 to 6 p.m. on May 5. The topic is Universal Design and it will be held in the LiveWise Renovations Showroom at 3500 W. 75th St., Suite 100, Prairie Village, Kan. 66211.

The topic is Mobility and Transportation from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 7. The seminar will be held at the Landon Center on Aging at KU Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Dr., Kansas City, Kan. 66160.

The seminars are sponsored by KC4 Aging in Community, Jewish Family Services of Greater Kansas City, Theo and Alfred M. Landon Center on Aging, Mid-America Regional Council, Shepherd’s Center of KC Central, LifeWise Renovations and the American Red Cross. Reservations are requested but not required; e-mail or call (816) 979-1366.

Alana Gaffen and Hannah Gortenburg met in kindergarten at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. In third grade, they became friends and have been friends ever since. Now 19, they are both in Israel taking part in the The Young Judaea Year Course.

Gaffen is the daughter of Congregation Beth Shalom members Steve and Eileen Gaffen. She left HBHA after eighth grade and graduated in 2010 from Blue Valley North High School.

Gortenburg stayed at HBHA and graduated last May. She is the daughter of Michael and Karen Gortenburg, who are members of Kehilath Israel Synagogue.

Gaffen first visited Israel in the summer of 2008 while participating in an Eastern Europe-Israel program. Gortenberg had been to Israel three times — first on a private trip, then with her HBHA class and again as part of the 2010 March of the Living.

Before the two teens graduated last year, they thought they might want to spend a year in Israel, so, Gaffen said, they attended a fair at the Jewish Community Center.

“Hannah and I looked at all the different programs and Young Judaea stood out because it had a lot of options. It looked like the best fit for me and I hadn’t heard any bad things about it,” Gaffen said.

Gortenburg agreed. “My brother came to Israel for two years and he told me the Young Judaea course was the best option for me because there was a lot of free time so I could explore Israel on my own. When I compared other year course, they seemed too structured with not enough time to learn for me to learn about myself.”

Gaffen chose the Classic Track and spent three months in Bat Yam where she volunteered in a kindergarten, took ulpan (Hebrew language class) twice a week and had a scout living in her apartment. She then spent three months in Arad where she worked in an artists’ colony and a day- care facility for Sudanese while going to ulpan.

“On weekends, I would go camping or hiking,” said Gaffen. “I did an all-day hike to the Dead Sea and camped out on the beach and I went to Eilat for winter break.I also went to Beersheva.”

In March Gaffen moved to Jerusalem where she has a very tight schedule — taking mandatory and optional college-credit classes (she can earn a maximum of 27 credits) and volunteering in a soup kitchen.

Gortenburg also spent three months in Bat Yam where she worked in a kindergarten; then moved to Arad for two months where she helped teach English in a Bedouin school and worked on a dig at Ein Gedi. She was on the Social Action Track so she left Arad for one month and went to Rwanda to live in a village and work with high school orphans from the genocide.

“We went to help them learn English and we built a house that they use to store clothing that is donated to them,” Gortenburg said.

Now in Jerusalem as well, Gortenburg works in the soup kitchen and takes classes for credit.

Gaffen believes the course has taught her the ability to live on her own.

“I grew up a lot here,” she said.

Gortenburg said she has also grown emotionally while in Israel.

“I was forced to challenge myself to new and very different opportunities. I matured a lot, having to find everything on my own and do everything by myself,” Gortenburg said.

Gaffen has enjoyed all the hiking and camping trips she’s been able to take.

“They bring you closer to the people you go with and give you the chance to explore the city you’re in and the cities around you. In Arad we were surrounded by mountains and the desert so there was reflection time for me to write in my journal or draw.”

Gortenburg enjoyed exploring by herself.

“My favorite place to explore is Tel Aviv. I sit down, get a cup of coffee and people watch, then I also walk around,” Gortenburg said.

Both teens would recommend the Young Judaea course to others.

“I wouldn’t have gotten these experiences if I’d gone to college,” Gaffen said.

Gortenburg said teens who choose the program have to be willing to indulge themselves.

“You need to realize you are on your own. You can’t rely on your parents to guide you. In college, you don’t need to do everything by yourself and living in America is easier,” Gortenburg said.

Next year their friendship will be put to a new test. Gaffen will attend Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and Gortenburg will attend the Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts located in New York City.

Young Judaea Year Course in Israel

The Young Judaea Year Course in Israel has been in existence since 1956. This year the program has approximately 300 participants, 60 percent women and 40 percent men. They include two young women from Holland, one woman from Belgium; a group affiliated with Great Britain’s Federation of Zionist Youth; and 13 Scouts (the brother/sister movement of Young Judaea) who participate in the program during their gap year after high school and before the army.

The “classic” program is divided into three three-month periods where participants live in three-bedroom apartments, two or three to a room, are provided with a budget to do their own shopping, cook for themselves and “live” in Israel. For the first three months, the roommates are chosen randomly by the staff; for the next two periods, participants can choose their roommates.

Young Judaea is the youth movement sponsored by Hadassah.

DESCENDANTS OF WWII JEWISH VETERANS SOUGHT —The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Mo., is undertaking a search for family descendants to properly honor the 82 Kansas City-area World War II service members who gave their lives (this is separate from the Walk of Honor bricks for World War I vets). These servicemen were honored through dedication ceremonies from 1942 through 1949. New plaques are being issued to replace aging plaques. Five of the 83 servicemen honored are Jewish and museum officials are seeking their descendants so they can be invited to attend the dedication ceremony of the replacement plaques on Veterans Day 2011. They will also be able to keep their loved one’s original plaque if they wish. If any of our readers are descendants or know of descendants of these five men, which includes children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc., please call Patrick Raymond at (816) 784-1913:

• Alvin G. Jackson, corporal in the Army, died April 1, 1942
Mother, Mrs. Frieda Jackson, KCMO

• Donald N. Blum, Army, died Jan. 4, 1945
Mother, Mrs. Lillian McGain, KCMO

• Granum Chernoff, private in the Army, died Jan. 30, 1944
Father, Morris Chernoff, KCMO

• Robert J. Rubin, Army, died June 20, 1944
Wife, Betty Rubin, and son, Milton, KCMO
Graduated from Westport High in 1935

• Harry Schultz, Army, died May 4, 1944
Mother, Bessie Schultz, KCMO

FUR BALL FUNDRAISERS — Several members of the Jewish community are on the board of directors of Wayside Waifs, Kansas City’s largest no-kill animal shelter — including Chair Pati Chasnoff and Harold Melcher, chair emeritus. They are preparing for Wayside Waifs’ Fur Ball Gala, its largest annual fundraiser scheduled to take place Saturday, May 7, at the Overland Park Convention Center. Gary Lezak is the event emcee. The event features both live and silent auctions along with a gourmet dinner. For more information, call (816) 986-4401.

SAVE THE FESTIVAL — The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival is in trouble. If it doesn’t raise $100,000 by Wednesday, May 4, this year’s production of “Macbeth,” scheduled to run from June 14 to July 3 in Southmoreland Park, will be cancelled. The festival was founded 18 years ago by Marilyn Strauss, who still serves as the board’s vice chairman. Shirley Bush Helzberg is the board chairman and Steve Chick is the president. Call (816) 531-7728 to donate over the phone.

STUDENTS ASSIST AUDIO READER — Jewish students at the University of Kansas, including many who are in the Jewish American Literature and Culture: A Service Learning Course, are volunteering for KU Audio-reader. KU Audio-Reader is a closed circuit radio station that has been serving the blind and print-disabled of Kansas and western Missouri since 1971. This includes people not only with visual disabilities, but other conditions that prevent them from reading normal printed materials. In addition to the radio, Audio-Reader has a dial-in newspaper service called Lions Telephone Reader, which has recently expanded its offerings to include The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle and The Forward. To listen to the Jewish publications on Telephone Reader, call (785) 864-7474 or (800) 335-1221, enter the demo code 5887, press 1 for newspapers, and then go to publication 5, where listeners can select 11 for The Forward and 14 for The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. The Jewish American Literature and Culture class is taught by Cheryl Lester.

KEEPING HEALTHCARE ABOVE PAR — KU sophomore Micah Levine is the membership chairman for Phi Delta Epsilon, a pre-med fraternity that was founded at a time when there was a quota regarding how many Jews could be accepted into medical school. Today membership is open to all religions and both men and women, but Jews are still heavily involved. The son of Toby and David Levine and a graduate of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, he informed us the fraternity is planning its first golf tournament for this summer on June 4 at the Lake Perry Country Club in Ozawkie, Kan. All proceeds will benefit the University of Kansas Hospital Nurse Academy. The entry fee is $100 and the tournament is open to all. For more information, contact Ross Miller at (913) 424-5986 or e-mail .