A HEARTY MAZEL TOV — We send much deserved congratulations to Rabbi Scott White, my friend since religious school days way back when, on the honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree he received last week from the Jewish Theological Seminary in recognition of his 30 years in the rabbinate.
“Friends, friends, friends,
We will always be,
Whether in fair or dark stormy
weather,
BBYO will keep us together …”
That song rings true for the boys in Nordaunian AZA #22, its alumni, former Matzo Ball queens and candidates and hundreds of former BBYOers now spread across the country. The song brings back extra special memories this year as Nordaunian’s Matzo Ball celebrates its 80th anniversary.
Filled with incredible enthusiasm and a singular goal to bring Kansas Citians together to better understand the political issues facing Jackson County, Missouri, 116 University Academy and Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy high school students have been working for the last several months on a social justice project that resulted in an upcoming Candidates Forum.
We all have a story. The challenge is to tell it in a way that is meaningful to us. And if it becomes a treasured tale for future generations, then we have truly made our mark on history.
NEVER FORGET — M.J. Rosenbloom brought to my attention that 102-year-old Holocaust survivor Abe Meth was pictured in the Jewish News in Phoenix. Rosenbloom said Meth moved here from Hungary in 1948 and lived here until the mid-70s, when he moved to Arizona. While he lived here, Meth served in many capacities at Congregation Beth Shalom. Meth is pictured speaking at an April 12 interfaith Yom HaShoah service, where he discussed his work with Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews in Nazi-era Hungary.
The Jewish Community has had a mikvah — ritual bath — as part of its community since the late 1880s. The Kansas City Community Mikvah is located inside Kehilath Israel Synagogue and was operational a few months after the Overland Park building opened in 1986. Almost 30 years later, it’s been renovated and will be celebrated with a Chanukat Habayit re-dedication ceremony on May 10.
The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity has expelled four men in response to an Islamophobic post on the social media app Yeti, according to a statement it released to the Kansan Monday night. At press time Tuesday afternoon, The Chronicle was not able to obtain the identifications of the four students kicked out of the fraternity.
The statement cited a zero-tolerance policy for racism and discrimination as the reason the fraternity expelled four members within 24 hours of them admitting involvement, it said.
She’s known as Nurse Pener to hundreds of people who have had ties to Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy over the past 18 years as well as those who work, play or otherwise spend time at the Jewish Community Campus. As nurses are recognized across the nation next week on National Nurses Day May 6, Elisa Pener will be praised for her skills as a nurse and much, much more.
Soccer has taken Yael Averbuch around the world. As a professional soccer player she has played for both Swedish and Russian teams internationally, and has played for both Washington and New Jersey in the States. As a member of the United States women’s soccer team she has competed with and against the best in the world.
JOURNALIST WRITES AUTOBIOGRAPHY — Our own Jerusalem-based Israel correspondent Sybil Kaplan has written an autobiography of the exciting time in her life and the life of Israel of the 1970s, titled “Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Foreign Correspondent in Israel.” She was one of the few women foreign correspondents of the time and a new immigrant in Israel. Kaplan was the first woman journalist to gain permanent press credentials for a Jewish paper from the Israel Government Press Office. The book’s epilogue chronicles her six visits back to Israel from 2001 on, as well as her daughter coming to live in Israel. From time to time she still writes for The Chronicle.
