Question: What do you call a 6-foot-4-inch lanky, red-headed Jewish man from Virginia?

Answer: The newest rabbi at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.

The congregation just announced that Rabbi Daniel Kirzane will be joining B’nai Jehudah as one of its rabbis, beginning July 1. Rabbi Kirzane will be replacing Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner, who is leaving after seven years to become senior rabbi of Temple Beth Tikvah, in Roswell, Georgia.

One of the first held programs at The Shul-Chabad of Leawood was a Model Matzah Bakery that took place Sunday, March 29. Ava Randall (from left) and Sadie Gershon proudly display their handmade matzahs together with Rabbi Schneur Perman.

HAMLISCH AND BACHARACH TUNES COME ALIVE AT QUALITY HILL PLAYHOUSE — Quality Hill Playhouse continues its season dedicated to film music with an exploration of 1960s and ’70s cinema in the intimate cabaret revue “What They Did for Love: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch and Burt Bacharach,” opening April 17.

Discussing final details for the SevenDays celebration are Mindy Corporon (seated, from left), her mother Melinda Corporon and (standing from left) Dr. Jim LaManno and his daughter Alissa.

Faith Always Wins.

That’s the name of the foundation the Corporon family set up following the deaths of family patriarch William Corporon and his grandson Reat Griffin Underwood, who were brutally murdered in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Campus on April 13, 2014. A short time later, Terri LaManno’s life was also cut short in the parking lot of Village Shalom. An anti-Semite who has said that he planned to kill Jewish people is accused of shooting all three that day. Ironically, none of the three were Jewish.

Following the April 13, 2014, tragedy at the Jewish Community Campus and Village Shalom, a group of caring individuals decided that they, as a community, have the power to outshine and overcome such senseless acts of hate. SevenDays is a challenge for young and old to embrace diversity across races, religions and cultures. Through three events — Faith, Love & Song, Faith, Love & Kindness and Faith, Love & Walk — the group hopes to promote understanding and encourage kindness to “Make a Ripple to Change the World.”

Family means everything to Ellen Portnoy. She knows her family history very well and has portraits of family members from past generations proudly displayed in her home. But she felt one family heirloom was better shared with the world than displayed once a year during Passover at her Overland Park home. So it now resides in a New York museum.

“And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” — Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5

Thanks to the generosity and foresight of donors who provided the Jewish Community Campus with Automatic External Defibrillators, or AEDs, another life has been saved.

Sunday night brought together more than 500 people to celebrate HBHA’s 42nd Civic Service Award Dinner. Irene Bettinger (left) 2014 CSA honoree, and Michael Abrams (right), 2015 dinner co-chair, presented the 2015 CSA award to the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation. The award was accepted by Henry Bloch (center). In its effort to make Kansas City a top-tier city, the Foundation has — for the last several years — generously supported HBHA, which it views as the cornerstone of a strong Jewish community.

HORROR MOVIE HAS KC CONNECTIONS — We found out too late last week to inform you that the movie “It follows” opened in theaters here last week. It was written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the grandson of Sunie and Lee Levin. “It Follows” debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 to critical praise and was widely released March 27. It is still playing through today, Thursday, April 2, for sure. Interested theater-goers will have to check their local listings to see if it’s still on local screens through next week. Here’s the synopsis of the R-rated movie:

Rabbi Rebecca Reice, associate rabbi at Congregation Beth Torah, has informed the congregation that she is opting out of the last year of her contract so that she may join her husband, Asher Lazarus, as he accepts new employment in Austin, Texas. She will continue in her role at the Reform congregation until June 30.

Joan Jacobson is an active member of the National Council of Jewish Women. She and the organization both champion the rights of children, women and families. It’s her work advocating for the rights of children that will be recognized when CASA of Johnson & Wyandotte Counties honors Jacobson as its CASA Volunteer Honoree at its Promise of Hope luncheon on April 2. The Promise of Hope Luncheon, celebrating the Kansas organization’s 30th anniversary, will be held from noon to 1 p.m., with networking beginning at 11:30 a.m., at the Ritz Charles in Overland Park. To reserve a free space, visit www.casajwc.org or call 913-715-4034. 

Sophia Porter, a senior at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, was met with a standing ovation by 2,000 space industry experts when she delivered the keynote address at the National Space Club’s Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Porter, who competed with other high school seniors, as well as graduate and undergraduate students across the U.S. for the scholarship, was awarded the opportunity to speak at the dinner, along with a $10,000 scholarship by the National Space Club. Photo courtesy of Bill Berner

‘HELLRAISER’ FILM SCREENING — “I’m honored,” is all Sid Willens would say when his granddaughter, Sara Glass, said she aimed to write a documentary on her grandfather’s legacy to Kansas City.