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 .

The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City is one of the nation’s leaders when it comes to working with community organizations to give them the tools for creating endowments through planned giving. As such, it will be hosting the Jewish Legacy Forum May 3, 4 and 5. Approximately 30 Jewish communities will be represented, bringing to Kansas City more than 80 people — both professionals and lay leaders — who work with Jewish federations or Jewish community foundations in North America.

Participants will learn from one another about designing and implementing Create a Jewish Legacy programs. The forum is a collaborative effort between the Jewish Community Foundations of Kansas City, Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., as well as the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and Jewish Federations of North America.

Sessions and keynote speakers will focus on the best and most successful practices and models from the field. Much of the forum will be held at the Jewish Community Campus.

“Everybody has their own twist, but there are some who are contemplating putting together an initiative and they are coming here to learn first-hand how these programs are organized and what needs to be in place in order for it to be successful,” explained Diane Azorsky, JCF’s assistant executive director and director of community endowments.

JCF has been working on this Forum for about 18 months. Merilyn Berenbom, who is chair of the Bushman Community

Endowment and a past president of JCF, said hosting this event is an incredible honor and gives JCF the opportunity to show off Kansas City “can do” spirit.

“Our Jewish Community Foundation reflects the dreams of its founders with the reality of an outstanding institution that everyday reflects the permanence of our values and the power of investing not just for today but for generations to come,” Berenbom said.

Lauren Hoopes, JCF’s executive director, said JCF’s staff and volunteers are proud to be able to share its expertise with others at the forum because it’s so important for the Jewish community to learn how to develop its financial resources in other ways besides annual fundraising campaigns.

“This is a national movement and we are considered leaders and a true role model in that movement. That’s really what’s so exciting about being asked to host this forum,” Azorsky said.

“Frequently I get calls about our Bushman Community Endowment program. (Learn more about BCE below) But this forum is an organized way for everyone to come together and learn from one another. Everybody’s program is unique and tailored to their own community but we can definitely all learn from each other,” she continued.

Joslin LeBauer, director of JFNA’s planned giving and endowments, indeed noted that The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City is considered an important example to other foundations and federations in the national system, especially when it comes to its communitywide Create a Jewish Legacy program.

“The Foundation has set a very high standard for donor support through a very generous gift from Stanley Bushman, so that they can offer incentive grants and hire dedicated staff. Their attention to detail in formatted documents and their array of professional training sessions has inspired their agency teams to walk the walk in addition to talking the talk,” LeBauer said.

Hoopes said one of the reasons Kansas City is looked up to is because it is “a model community of cooperation.” In many communities the federations, foundations, synagogues and agencies don’t work well together.

“Whether it’s because of our history or the particular people that we have as leaders in our community, we’ve been able to navigate those potential mine fields much more effectively than most communities,” Hoopes said. “Other communities see that as something that is awesome and worth emulating.”

The importance of endowments

Endowments are funds that are invested for the long-term growth and financial stability of a charitable organization. Every year income is distributed to the charity based upon an established spending policy to support a specific program, to provide scholarships, to underwrite annual operations or to be used at the discretion of the organization’s board of directors.

Endowments have always been important to JCF, but Hoopes said not long after she joined JCF in 2003, the Foundation began looking into ways to help local agencies and synagogues learn to cultivate planned gifts as a way to ensure their future.

“One by one community agencies were coming to talk to me about how to do more of this and they were really at a loss because they were starting from square one. Then I thought since I was having all these independent conversations maybe we need to do something that is more organized to present to all of these people,” Hoopes said.

Plans for the program, known as the Bushman Community Endowment, were announced in late 2006 and got off the ground in April 2007. Much of it is based on a model created in San Diego.

Since the launch of BCE, JCF has helped raise an estimated $24 million in future endowment gifts. Across North America, initiatives like BCE report that an estimated $400 million has been committed in legacy gifts by individuals and families of all means and diverse Jewish backgrounds since 2004. This estimate is conservative since many endowment donors have chosen to keep the size of their gifts confidential.

Endowments such as these are important, Azorsky said, because they are like each organization’s nest egg.

“The same way we all save for the future, organizations need to save for their futures,” Azorsky said.
Hoopes adds that organizations with endowments are simply more financially sound than those that don’t.

“If you used the analogy of the life of a family, it would be like living paycheck to paycheck versus having built up assets that you could draw on in an emergency or for special projects or in circumstances when that monthly paycheck was no longer coming in,” Hoopes said.

In the last couple of years Hoopes said that some organizations really learned the importance of endowments.

“Charities that had strong endowments were able to maintain their core services and were able to stay on track with their missions and those that didn’t struggled,” she said.

Hoopes and Azorsky said they are proud that JCF has been asked to share its expertise with others because it’s so important for the Jewish community to learn how to develop its financial resources in other ways that supplement and enhance annual fundraising campaigns.

Grace Day has been a pioneer for women lawyers. She was the only woman in her class when she earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Dakota in 1949. In 1972 she was the first woman president of the St. Joseph, Mo., Bar Association. Next week she will be presented with the Woman of the Year award by Missouri Lawyers Weeky. The 13th Annual Women’s Justice Awards, which honors 35 female attorneys in Missouri, will be held in St. Louis on Wednesday, April 27.

“I feel very honored,” said Day from her office Polsinelli Shughart office in St. Joseph. “I feel like it’s an award for years of my interest in the law.

“Some of it has been difficult, some very exciting and some very interesting and it’s a culmination of all the years I’ve had in the practice,” continued Day, who has volunteered as St. Joseph’s Temple B’nai Sholem’s executive secretary for 61 years, the entire time she has lived in the Missouri town. She also serves on the small congregation’s cemetery committee.

She’s been practicing law since 1949, moving to Missouri in 1950. She said her studies and her career have been a long journey. While she was in law school, she said the other students and faculty “made it made it well known I wasn’t an acceptable party because I was a woman.”

Because of her gender, she said it was very hard for her to find a job. The one she finally found paid $50 per month, but it turns out she wasn’t more than what she called “a glorified secretary.”

Soon after, she opened her own private practice.

“Little by little I grew my practice. It wasn’t easy,” she said. “I wasn’t from the St. Joseph area so I did a lot of free criminal work to get my name known.”

Eventually Day began practicing family law and she stuck with that. She was in solo practice for 46 years before joining Polsinelli Shughart at the age of 69.

“I was very worried what would happen with my practice if I died,” she said. I thought I would be here a year or two. Now I’ve been here 15 years.”

Over the years she has spent a lot of time volunteering. Most notably she served as international president of B’nai B’rith Women (now known as Jewish Women International), serving a two-year term immediately following that of the late Evelyn Wasserstrom from Kansas City. She has also served as president of St. Joseph United Jewish Fund and was the first woman elected to serve on the board of the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce.

Magazine honors Levit, too

Nancy Levit, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, is one of four women who will be recognized as Legal Scholars at the Missouri Lawyers Weekly 13th Annual Women’s Justice Awards next week in St. Louis.

Levit holds both a Curator’s Professorship and the Edward D. Ellison Professorship UMKC. She teaches Defamation & Privacy, Employment Discrimination, Gender & Justice, Jurisprudence, and Torts, and is the co-advisor to the UMKC Law Review.

Professor Levit has been voted by the students as the Law School’s Outstanding Professor of the Year three times and she has received the Elmer Pierson Faculty Teaching Award three times as well, the N.T. Veatch Award for Distinguished Research and Creative Activity, the UMKC Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2011 and the Missouri Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

She will be profiled in Professor Michael Schwartz’s book, “What the Best Law Teachers Do,” forthcoming from Harvard University Press in 2012. She is the author of “The Gender Line: Men, Women, and the Law,” and the co-author (with Richard Delgado and Robert L. Hayman, Jr.) of “Jurisprudence — Classical and Contemporary,” the co-author (with Robert R.M. Verchick) of “Feminist Legal Theory: A Primer,” and the co-author (with Douglas Linder) of the recently released “The Happy Lawyer: Making a Good Life in the Law.”

Eileen Garry, executive director of The Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art (KCJMCA) since 2000, has announced plans to retire at the start of 2012. This year KCJMCA has been celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Garry has been involved since its inception in 1992. She began her association with KCJMCA as a Kansas City Jewish Museum Foundation founding member, then served as a volunteer assistant director before becoming its executive director.

“It all started when (KCJMCA founders) Sybil and Norman Kahn asked me to get involved to help run Museum Without Walls,” said Garry, who will become executive director emeritus when she retires.

“For a number of years, we met in offices around town before Michael Klein suggested that we get involved with Village Shalom, which allowed us to move so close to the Epsten Gallery.”

Garry said she is choosing to retire because she believes “very strongly that new blood is always needed in any organization to make progress.”

“This will also give me more time to spend with my family and friends and plan the next chapter in my life,” she said.

Regina Kort, president of the KCJMCA board of directors, praises Garry’s service and dedication to the organization. She said it has prospered and grown in many ways during her tenure as executive director. She credits Garry’s extensive experience as a fundraiser as well as her knowledge of the community for the success of KCJMCA, which managed to reach new fundraising goals in 2010 amidst a challenging economy.

Kort also expressed appreciation for Garry’s announcement more than a half-year in advance, allowing the board time to engage in the process of identifying a successor.

“Eileen has been the heart and soul of KCJMCA from the beginning,” said Kort. “Because of her dedication, enthusiasm and hard work our organization has evolved into one of the premier spaces in the Kansas City area that features up-and-coming regional and national artists. We have been fortunate to have an executive director of Eileen’s caliber.”

KCJMCA Past President Michael Klein agreed.

“Her drive and energy helped build KCJMCA into the major cultural institution it has become,” Klein said. “Cutting-edge exhibits that would scare off more conservative people became one of the museum’s hallmarks. Eileen never stopped learning and expanding her limits. We all owe her a debt for what she has done.”

Klein noted that the board worked closely with Garry over the years to stabilize the organization through the creation of an endowment, two additional staff positions, the successful completion of a five-year strategic plan and a solid foundation of private, individual donor support. He said over the past 20 years Garry has remained a constant presence at KCJMCA, having worked under the founder and former executive director Sybil Kahn, five KCJMCA presidents, three assistant directors, two curators and one administrative assistant.

“Eileen is proof that age is what you make of it. When she took over as director, most of her contemporaries were long retired. She shows the talent and energy that lets one continue leading a productive life well into their ‘senior’ years. She shows that age can often be a mental thing and what a person makes of it. Eileen is youthful in spirit, drive and energy and serves as a role model for the baby boomers coming up that their productive years are just beginning,” Klein said.

Reflecting on her time at KCJMCA Garry said one of her most memorable times was at the very beginning of both Museum Without Walls and Epsten Gallery.

“There was so much excitement and we really had no idea how far each would go,” she said.

One of the highlights, she said, was bringing Toby Kahn to Kansas City for a show at Epsten Gallery.

“But really all the shows have been highlights. How could I pick out just one?

“I want to thank everyone who has made the growth and excitement of building this into a major art center — the Epsten family, Michael Klein, Donna Gould Cohen, the Polskys — all the board members and donors who without their support this would never have happened,” she continued. “I would also like to thank members of the community such as Alice Thorson and Bruce Hartman and so many others who have been incredibly supportive and contributed to the success of the Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art.”

The KCJMCA board of directors has appointed a search committee to develop a new job description and interview process to help identify Garry’s replacement.

“This process is already underway with the involvement of Eileen and the rest of the staff,” Kort said. “A big part of the conversation is how best to build upon Eileen’s accomplishments, what we want for the future of the organization, and how to continue moving forward with the great momentum she has helped to create.”

What do you do if Mom, Dad or Aunt Zelda needs an extra hand or a ride and you aren’t able to provide it? You can call Seniors Helping Seniors, a new area business that specializes in providing non-medical services for seniors by seniors.

Celia Richey, a member of Congregation Beth Torah, purchased the franchise, which serves clients in Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, late last year and said since the first of the year it has “gotten really great response.” The organization has franchises throughout the United States.

Richey explained that Seniors Helping Seniors provides in-home, non-medical services for seniors by seniors.

“We provide things like companion care, transportation to doctor’s appointments, shopping, errands, meal preparation and light housekeeping. We also do home maintenance and yard work, which is a little bit different than the other providers in the area.

We do anything that is going to help keep seniors in their homes as long as possible,” she said.

The home, Richey said, can actually be a single-family home, an apartment or even an assisted-living apartment.

“We can help people living in assisted living. The person may need someone to come and take them out to lunch every once in a while or just come to sit with them because the facility’s employees are not companions,” Richey said.

A Kansas City native, Richey said Seniors Helping Seniors’ clients need assistance for various reasons. Their kids may be too busy to help, they may live out of town or they simply might not have a connection with their children or other relatives.

Providers are generally between the ages of 55 and 70. They don’t provide any medical services, so the state of Kansas does not require them to be licensed in any way. But Richey makes sure they attend monthly training session about a variety of topics, including Alzheimer’s disease or nutrition, and the sessions often feature expert guest speakers.

An attorney who for the past 25 years worked in the financial services industry, Richey herself received training at Seniors Helping Seniors corporate headquarters in Reading, Pa. She said the really cool thing about seniors providing these services to other seniors is that they often have a special connection with each other. Richey uses Glenn Miller as an example.

“When a 75-year-old says I really used to love to dance to Glenn Miller, a 25-year-old might ask if Glenn Miller is the new forward on the KU basketball team. Whereas a 60-year-old or a 65-year-old is going to know who Glenn Miller is,” Richey said.

Because of the client-provider connection, Richey said clients often feel they are really getting “more of a friendship rather than just paying for somebody to help them.”

When hiring caregivers, which Richey said has been “surprisingly easy,” she said she looks for people who have the heart of a volunteer who want or need to make a little extra money.

“I’m finding providers who have been edged out of other jobs or need part-time work but they want it to be incredibly flexible,” she said.

“All of our providers go through an extensive background check and are insured, to ensure our clients peace of mind,” she continued.

Providers have the opportunity to turn down assignments if they aren’t available.

“They are able to live their lives and their retirement as they want to, but they can also give back to the community and make a little extra money. I’ve gotten a great response and I have some really great providers,” Richey said.

Seniors Helping Seniors employs both men and women. If the client wants ongoing care of some type, most often he or she will get the same provider on a regular basis.

If a client is to meet a new provider, it’s important to Richey that she personally makes the introductions.

“Any time a new provider goes to a client’s house, I go with them. I don’t want somebody strange just knocking at the door,” Richey said. “I want to make sure that everybody is comfortable and everybody is OK with the situation. I really try very hard to match my clients with the right providers.”

To do that, Richey meets with each client before making the provider assignment.

“I look at the situation and what it is the client wants to have done. Then I make sure that the person that I call is somebody that I think will match up well,” she said.

Richey also prefers that her providers have had previous experience caring for older adults.

“It’s really more like taking care of your mom, which is how I got into it. My mom doesn’t drive anymore, so she needs help getting to doctor’s appointments and things like that,” Richey said.

“My experience made me think about what other people do if they don’t have children in town,” she said.
For more information contact Richey at (913) 232-7532 or .

FILMING EXCELLENCE — “Kansas Debate: For the Love of the Argument” has been selected to show at the Lawrence Arts Center’s Drop Your Shorts Off Film Festival on May 7. The film was produced by Kansas City native and KU senior Greg Dubinsky, along with three others students. The story is about the Kansas debate team and how they debate because they love it (hence the name). The filmmakers focused  their lens on one of the most successful and most under-appreciated teams at the University of Kansas.  The film shows the team at its best, winning the Wake Forest University debate tournament, where more than 100 teams competed. The son of Jeff and Debbie Dubinsky, Greg, who initiated and is president of KU’s Documentary Film Society, is hoping to find a production job in television and film following graduation in May. To check out the documentary, visit http://www.vimeo.com/18014967.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — A contingency of congregants from BIAV trekked to New York last month to promote the congregation and the Kansas City area at the Orthodox Union’s Emerging Communities Fair. More than 1,000 people were there to explore viable alternatives to life in the Northeast. Eva Sokol organized the BIAV presentation, and led the group, which included Rabbi Daniel and Ayala Rockoff, BIAV President Andy Ernstein, Carol Katzman and Jason Sokol. Sokol said they spoke to approximately 80 families about our community. Many are interested in finding out more about Overland Park.

U.S PREMIER — The Kansas City Symphony is presenting the U.S. premiere of a percussion concerto “Frozen in Time,” by young Israeli composer Avner Dorman Friday through Sunday, April 29 through May 1, at the Lyric theatre downtown. Dorman calls the concerto “an imaginary snapshot of the Earth’s geological developments from prehistoric times to the present day.” Dorman, who is married to Kansas City native Jenny Sherman, is receiving quite a bit of world-wide acclaim for his compositions. In “Frozen in Time” he uses several instruments that are not common in western orchestras such as tables, darbukas (a Middle Eastern drum), many types of cymbals, a cencerros (24 cowbells) and djembes (African percussion instrument). The concerto features special guest Austrian percussionist Martin Grubinger. For more information contact (816) 471-0400.

STERN  HONORED — Speaking of the Kansas City Symphony, Music Director Michael Stern will receive an honorary Doctor of Musical Arts from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance May 7 at Spring Commencement, where he will also give the commencement address.

Stern, who is in his sixth season with the Symphony, said in a news release that he is “grateful for the invitation from the university to participate in their commencement ceremony and to receive this extraordinary award. It is made all the more special for me since I admire so much all of the meaningful and progressive momentum which has been so evident at the Conservatory of Music and Dance under Peter Witte’s leadership. I am thrilled at the partnership we are establishing between the Kansas City Symphony and the school, and I am honored to have the chance to continue to find the best ways to serve the causes of music, young talent, and our city.”

TEXTING DONATION — NCSY Alumni is making it easy to give tzedakah in this fast-paced world with its innovative new texting campaign. Following in the footsteps of many other organizations, NCSY Alumni now receives a $5 donation if someone texts a keyword to 50555. The NCSY Alumni keyword is “AMEN.” Every time you do that, your mobile phone company tacks on $5 to your bill and that money is given directly to NCSY Alumni from the phone company.

It’s a few days before Pesach. The rush is on to simmer the dates and almonds with wine for charoset, cut all the vegetables for the big pot of fava bean soup, and roast the red and green peppers for chouchouka.
What? This doesn’t sound like a “traditional” Passover menu — at least not to Jews whose grandparents came from Eastern Europe.

But if you’re Nathalie Chetrite Scharf and your parents are from Morocco and Algeria, this is exactly what you’re preparing.
Scharf, who was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, is a minority within a minority in greater Kansas City — a Sephardi Jew. The name describes those Jews whose ancestors didn’t originate in Europe or Russia, but stayed in the Middle East, the Maghreb--- (North Africa) or countries like Greece, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav states.

When Nathalie was a little girl in France, she used to visit her grandparents in Morocco almost every summer. “The Jewish community (in Casablanca) was large and active,” she recalled. “I remember the smells and sounds of preparing for Shabbat. My grandparents had several maids, as was traditional at that time, and I would hang out with them as they went to the souk or prepared meals.” The men attended services Saturday mornings at any of Casablanca’s many synagogues while the women prepared the house for the huge meal that followed. “The traditional dish my grandmother served was dafina;  it is similar to cholent with potatoes, eggs, wheat, meat, chickpeas and cooks all night,” she added.

And while she’s not making dafina for Passover, Nathalie will be reminiscing with her mother, Michele Chetrite, who arrived at the end of March from France. “My mother was born in Fez, Morocco, and my father was born in Algiers,” she added. “My father was sent to a yeshiva in Strasbourg, France, in 1962 after Algeria gained its independence and entered law school in Aix-en-Provence. My mother left Morocco after high school to also attend the law school in Aix; that’s where they met.”

When Nathalie was 16, she came to the United States as an exchange student and lived with a family in southern California. She earned her high school diploma and stayed for another year so she could apply to California State University, Northridge. “I didn’t know anyone there and it was a huge campus with 40,000 students,” she recalled. “On the first day of school, I went to the Hillel House to meet other Jewish students.” She met the Hillel president, too — the man who would become her husband — James Scharf, whose Kansas City grandparents were Holocaust survivors Sol and Jennie Blum.

The couple married in 1991 and moved here in 1993. James’ mother, Nata Scharf had already moved from southern California in order to be close to her parents and the rest of her KC family. “I applied to Washburn Law School in Topeka and was accepted,” Nathalie said, adding that after graduation the couple moved to New York, where their first daughter, Naomie, was born. They returned to KC for a short period, then it was on to France where daughter Kayla was born. After four years with Nathalie’s family, they returned once again to KC. Today Scharf works for the Department of Commerce, bringing in foreign investments to Kansas and assisting local businesses looking to export their products; her husband, who was a social worker, has just completed his student teaching in elementary education and special ed.

They’ve lived in Overland Park since 2003. Naomie, now 13, attends Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, and Kayla, 9, goes to Cottonwood Point Elementary. The family belongs to Beth Shalom, where Naomie celebrated her Bat Mitzvah last fall — among family and friends from France, Italy and Morocco.

“Aside from my family, I really miss the rich culture and traditions of the Moroccan Jews,” Scharf admits. It’s difficult to find some of the ingredients she needs for her Moroccan recipes, so she awaits her mother’s trips and the exotic spices, pate’, and Passover cookies she brings with her. “It is getting easier to find things on the Internet, such as harissa (a combination of spices and hot chili peppers used to flavor many North African dishes) and now couscous is everywhere.”

Her daughters are aware of their backgrounds and are interested in learning more about their Sephardic heritage. But it is a challenge in Kansas. Unlike New York, where the Scharfs had Jewish friends of Sephardic descent, here Nathalie has been asked if she really is Jewish when she didn’t understand Yiddish words!

Nathalie’s background didn’t include stories of the shtetls in Poland and Russia. Instead, one grandmother sang her Ladino lullabies — a mixture of Hebrew and Spanish, and others spoke of the fresh fruit and vegetables, exotic spices and grilled lamb featured in the North African dishes unique to each Jewish holiday.

That fava bean soup, for example, is a staple of Moroccan sederim. According to Claudia Roden, author of “The Book of Jewish Food: an Odyssey from Samarkand to New York,” “fava beans are one of the foods the Jews hankered for during their Exodus from Egypt.” Roden grew up in Egypt, so her version was made only with “salt, pepper, lemon juice and flat-leafed parsley.”

The Moroccan recipe passed down from Scharf’s Moroccan grandmother, adds vegetables and is, according to Roden, “deliciously aromatic.”

Nathalie also remembers the “Bibhilou” ceremony many Sephardi Jews perform at their sederim each year. The leader takes the seder plate and holds it over the head of each guest around the table, while everyone sings “Ha lachma anya” from Hallel, the songs of praise recited during every Jewish festival holiday: Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot.

Sephardic doesn’t necessarily mean Spanish, Scharf explained, “though my mother’s family roots are certainly from there.” She can trace her family back to Spain from before the Inquisition; they also are related to the revered Baba Sali, the late Moroccan rabbi who helped bring a generation of Jews to Israel.

“I still have a few distant relatives in Morocco, though very few remain.  Most moved to Israel, France and Canada.” She’s concerned about the recent uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, and wonders if it will spread to Morocco. In 1956, Morocco was home to more than a quarter of a million Jews. Today, fewer than 5,000 live in its largest city Casablanca. Fez and Tatoun, where Scharf’s family once lived, are now home to only 100-150 Jews each.

Michele Chetrite is happy to be in Kansas City, enjoying her granddaughters and helping prepare for Passover. Nathalie trained in Aix to be a pastry chef, while James worked at the family’s hotel. So it’s her job to create the desserts, while her mother is responsible for the fava bean soup, meatballs with green peas, lamb with white truffles, carrot salad, and chouchouka — the roasted bell pepper salad.

“I feel it is my responsibility to teach my kids some of the traditions they will be able to carry-on. One of them — widely known and celebrated in Israel — is Mimouna, a festival that marks the end of Passover. It was an incredible experience in Morocco! I still remember this vividly,” Scharf recalled. “We would go from house to house partaking in special delicacies and just celebrating, playing traditional music and all wearing our best caftans. This went on until the early hours of the morning.” Scharf said the custom is to eat many sweets like maffleta, a crepe with honey, zaban — a homemade nougat with almonds, and mrouzia, a current preserve.

In addition to hosting her mother during Passover, Nathalie’s father Guy and brother, Alexandre, are flying in on Sunday as well. And her sister, Stephanie, is getting married in September in Aix. Not only will the entire family be going, but also Nathalie plans to stock up on her favorite spices, orange blossom water, and other specialties. After all, by then she’ll need them to make Gateau a l’Orange, a Moroccan orange cake served during Sukkot!

Soupe de fèves de Pessah
Fava Bean Soup for Pessah

1 kg (about 2.2 lbs) beef roast plus marrow bone
1 kg new potatoes
1 kg of fresh or frozen peeled fava beans
2 leeks
3 stalks of celery
2 carrots
cilantro
salt
pepper
curcuma (a type of turmeric)
oil
Season the meat and salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Remove the meat.
Wash, peel and dice all vegetables finely, except for the fava beans.

Sauté the vegetables (except fava beans) in the drippings from the meat, and add the meat and marrowbone. Add enough cold water to cover meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer until all vegetables are done.
Add the fava beans and cook an additional 10-15 minutes. Add the chopped coriander, salt, pepper and curcuma to taste.

Agneau aux terfasses
Lamb with white truffles

1kg lamb shoulder roast
oil
1 bunch saffron
4 garlic cloves
salt
pepper
1 kg canned white truffles (from Morocco)
Cut the meat into large chunks and season with salt and pepper on all sides.  Sauté in the oil until the meat browns.  Add a cup of water, the whole garlic cloves, saffron, salt and pepper.  Cover and simmer for one hour.
Add the canned truffles and simmer an additional 30 minutes.

Moufleta
3 ¾ c. flour
1-½ c. warm (not boiling) water
Pinch of salt
Vegetable (not olive) oil, as needed
Place flour and salt in bowl. Scoop out a “well” in the middle and add water there. Mix, adding a little extra water if dough seems too dry. Mix together until a light and elastic dough is formed.
Divide dough into 15 to 20 small balls. Cover with dishtowel and let stand 30 minutes on a flat, well-oiled surface.
Oil hands and on oiled surface, roll dough into thin circles.
Spread small amount of oil in frying pan and cook mufleta over medium heat. Cook both sides. Pan does not need to be re-greased before cooking the rest of the mufletas.
Place on a plate and cover with dishtowel to keep them warm. Serve warm with butter and honey.
These may be frozen and re-heated in microwave. Makes 15 to 20 mufletas.

How many times have you sat with Zayde or Aunt Esther and promised yourself that sometime soon you will chat with him or her and capture all their life stories before they aren’t able to tell them anymore?

Maybe you don’t have the time to talk to Zayde about those stories yourself. Or maybe you don’t feel you have the expertise to chronicle Aunt Esther’s stories properly. That’s how Trudi Galblum and Molly Shapiro can get involved. As professional writers, they will write and publish these precious stories for you. (At least one other Jewish-owned company is also producing family histories. See separate story this page.)

The pair work together at Trudi Galblum Communications, a company Galblum has owned since 1991. It specializes in writing for nonprofit organizations, companies and families seeking to build support, inspire hope, document achievement and preserve legacies. Over the years they have written several corporate histories, including those of Health Midwest and Menorah Medical Center.

“What we bring to this type of project is a long history of interviewing people about their lives and putting it together in an entertaining format that people will pick up and read,” Galblum said.

A creative writer as well as a journalist, Shapiro has written a number of commissioned screenplays and published a book of short stories “Eternal City,” which won the Willa Cather Fiction Prize. Her first novel will be published by Ballentine early next year.

“We’re pulling out gems of Kansas City history that are going to disappear soon,” Galblum said. “When people preserve that history by sharing their story it is a gift to the community.”

Galblum first became interested in individual and family histories almost a decade ago. She was in the process of completing Barney Karbank’s personal history when he passed away in 2002.

The fact that subjects are often in their twilight years is one reason Shapiro thinks putting personal stories and histories in written form is important to do sooner than later.

“I have several friends who’ve recently lost grandparents or parents and say they wish they would have done this when their loved one was alive because now those stories are gone,” Shapiro said.

“Trudi and I know how precarious all this is and how important it is. A lot of people, while they know it’s important, really don’t deal with it until it’s too late,” Shapiro said.

Many times, Shapiro said, people feel weird about initiating the story-telling process because that action would somehow be admitting that he or she might not be alive much longer.

They have found that while some people are hesitant to begin telling their stories, once they get started they become more comfortable with the interview process.

“This might be a person’s first and only opportunity to share their life’s journey,” Shapiro said. “It can be an exhilarating experience to have someone wanting to hear all the details of your life.”

One of the pair’s most recent projects resulted in a hardcover book about Galblum’s inlaws — Skipper and Leo Feingold. They started interviewing them about a year ago.

“What was really poignant about all this is Leo was 95 when we started and he passed away two months after we finished our interviews,” Galblum said.

The process is a little different for each subject, because every person, business or family is unique. It always includes an initial meeting and in-person interviews. The final product can include photographs, letters and archival materials in formats ranging from a simple manuscript printed on a personal computer to a published book.

“We will customize every project to meet the subject’s needs,” Galblum said.
Galblum said it’s common for a project to grow once the subject gets started and comfortable with the interview process.

“We try to estimate how many interviews it will take in the beginning,” Galblum said. “But then later they’ll ask us to interview this person and that person.”

Galblum said it’s realistic to think that a couple’s interview can be completed in 10 hours. Sessions usually don’t last longer than two hours because the subject, and the interviewer, often gets tired after that length of time.

The cost of a personal history typically ranges from $3,000 to $6,000, depending on the number of people interviewed, the number of photos included, and the quantity and quality of books printed. Shapiro said histories that involve numerous people and/or a family business would likely cost more.

“I think all the old pictures add so much to it,” Shapiro said.

“We know it has to be cost effective for people, so we’re making sure to provide lots of options,” she continued.
For more information about these histories, contact Trudi Galblum at or Molly Shapiro at .

Keepsake Chronicles preserves life stories

Keepsake Chronicles is another Jewish-owned company helping people capture and preserve their life stories. Diane Wubbenhorst, a member of Congregation Kol Ami, and her business partner Jamie Thaemert, said Keepsake Chronicles has been in business since late February. The company, which holds a membership in the Association of Personal Historians, specializes in capturing, chronicling and producing people’s life stories using a unique story gathering process.

The subject, called the “star” by Keepsake Chronicles, is first assigned to fill a Keepsake Reflection Box with memorabilia that reflects highlights of his/her life including photos, medals, certificates, jewelry, etc. The interview captures the “star’s” stories surrounding the contents of the Reflection Box.

The “star” is also asked to complete fact and timeline sheets to help spark memories.
In addition, dedications and tributes from family members are collected by Keepsake Chronicles. The “star” doesn’t see the tributes and dedications until he/she receives the finished book.

Most of the company’s clients are adult children of people in their 70s and 80s, Thaemert said.

“Siblings band together to buy our service to help create a lasting keepsake and to honor their parents or grandparents.”

Wubbenhorst said Cantor Paul Silbersher piqued her own personal interest in family history. He influenced her to seek information about her parents. She started her journey with her mother’s family, who were Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe.

“They migrated to England in approximately 1887 during difficult times in their homeland of Lithuania,” she said. “They were deeply rooted in the tailoring business.”

Wubbenhorst, a graduate of the Florence Melton adult Jewish studies program who performs with the Tikvah Dancers, began searching for another career after being laid off by Sprint in 2009.

“I was blessed to find that my friend of 20 years, Jamie Thaemert, was also passionate about capturing family history,” she said.
Wubbenhorst likens the importance of creating a lasting family history to a quote from the television show “The Wonder Years,”

“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.”

Keepsake sells three main products: The Klassic Book (portrait format, hardbound) sells for $1,295; The Kontemporary Book (landscape format, hardbound) sells for $1,325 and the Keepsake Video (voiceover narration, interview footage, still photos and photo gallery slideshow) sells for $965.

For more information, you can visit the website at keepsakechronicles.com or e-mail Keepsake Chronicles .

Edna Levy is a bundle of energy. In the classroom she curls up on a chair, feet tucked underneath, as she asks the women in her recent “Sheroes of the Bible” class to look at the text. “What’s the Hebrew used for the basket carrying Moses?” she asks. A student finds the word ‘teva’ and recalls it was used in the portion about Noah. It’s not just “a basket” Levy agrees, but something sturdier. Maybe there’s a parallel between Noah’s “saving humanity” and Moses’ potential “saving of the Jewish people.”

“Was it luck or chance?” Levy asks next, as she unwinds her legs and sits astride the arm of her chair. One responds, “There’s serious calculation here.”

Levy’s style has some serious calculation as well; as a Jewish educator her goal is to make her students see beyond the “old Hebrew school version” that most adults have to overcome. “I have found that there is some odd coincidence between what I sign up to teach, and what my own personal Jewish soul-journey is searching for,” Levy admits. “So I have always ended up learning as much or more than I am teaching, or being more influenced than I expected.” Yet she didn’t start out to become a teacher.

Growing up in a household as the oldest daughter of Sephardi parents who emigrated from Iraq to Canada to the United States, Levy’s formative years included teenage rebellion — but made her appreciate her heritage and want to learn more. “When I was a kid, those who didn’t have that Ashkenazi background might have said ‘I don’t have the right story’,” Levy explains. “So I sometimes feel left out whenever I hear Yiddish — as my grandparents spoke Arabic. Yet overall I do feel included in Yiddishkeit.”

Levy’s parents, Claudette and Nouri Levy, live here now, mostly to be near their daughter and son-in-law, Jacob Schreiber (executive director of the Jewish Community Center) and their three children: Gavri, 16, Maya, 12, and Simi, 9. It’s the first time since those teen years in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, that she’s lived in the same community with them.

“My mother, younger brother and sister became more observant when I was in high school,” Levy recalls. She rebelled, but instead of their religiosity driving her away from Judaism, it “sparked my Zionism and learning.” She looked for meaning in Judaism, practicing what years later she would learn was Rabbi Brad Hirschfield’s philosophy: “You don’t have to be wrong for me to be right.”

She felt a strong connection to the land of Israel, which led her to a long visit at age 19, where she lived with her Iraqi cousins, learned Hebrew and worked. She returned to Israel after graduating from Queen’s University in Canada. And that’s where she met Jacob Schreiber, a young New Yorker who had just made aliyah.

“It was a whirlwind romance,” she says with a grin. Five months later, Levy left for graduate school at the University of California at Irvine and for Jacob, it was “lose her or follow.” Luckily he found a job there while Levy completed the course work toward her doctorate in political science. Israel beckoned again, and the couple returned, now as a married couple, when the Anti-Defamation League hired Schreiber in its Jerusalem office.

That allowed Levy to finish her dissertation about gender and militarism in Israel. “My thesis came from frustration with women’s status in Israel,” Levy says. “It pits the myth of equality against what it means to be an Israeli, through service in the army.”

The couple spent four years in Israel before Jacob accepted a position in Rochester, N.Y., as assistant director of the JCC. That started Levy on a path as a Jewish educator. A local temple had an opening for a part time director of Jewish education. “I had a Ph.D.,” Levy recalls, “and was already an educator, but I didn’t have the experience in Jewish content.” That job allowed her to develop those skills.

Her Rochester stint gave Levy the credentials she needed when the couple moved to Atlanta. She taught Melton courses, and staffed summers at local Jewish camps. The last two years there, Levy became director of the Lisa Brill Institute for Lifelong Jewish Learning at the JCC.

And since moving here in the summer of 2009, she’s enjoying – and expanding – her role as a Jewish “coach.” Levy describes her role as “Sort of a ready-to-tailor-make-hands-on-Jewish-educational-experiences for individuals and families. She adds, “The title somehow conveys that I can teach Jewish-ness — beyond the classroom and beyond the right-and-wrong-how-to’s.”

Levy is coordinating “Ayeka” — a series of spiritual, or personal growth, workshops. “Ayeka is less about Jewish education and more about Jewish transformation. It is a way of increasing awareness, gratitude, presence in the everyday, through Jewish texts,” she adds. Ayeka’s founder, Rabbi Aryeh Ben-David, is coming to KC as a Scholar-in-Residence in May.

And she is facilitating Foundations — Jewish Values for Parents. “It’s a Melton-created class,” she explains, with “lots of discussion and text study for parents of all backgrounds and perspectives.” She’s even taught a Skype-version with a parent group in Wichita.

Levy describes Ayeka, as “a heart-centered way of learning Jewish texts and ideas.” She says she has found herself “more open to, wrestling with, thinking about the questions and issues.” And so perhaps that’s why this energetic Jewish teacher adds, “this may be one reason why I enjoy teaching and find it fulfilling — I love grappling with texts or ideas along with other learners — it’s my way of making meaning for myself.”