Archived News

SINGING FOR CHARITY — As one of her Bat Mitzvah service projects, Kansas City native Kayla Israel recently hosted “An Evening for Eos,” a benefit concert to raise money and awareness for eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID), which Kayla has been living with for many years. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}She now lives in Champaign, Ill, and was joined on stage at a theater there by her music teachers (Deb and Jim Dobbs) as well as three of her local theater friends (Maddie Henson, Ally Miller and Maddy Childress) for an evening of Broadway songs.

Good Shabbos KC, a new Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City program, hopes to be a hospitable way to bring Jews together for a monthly Shabbat dinner while raising awareness about its mission: To sustain and enhance Jewish life at home and around the world. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Once a month on the first Friday of the month, beginning Feb. 6 (the Shabbat before Super Sunday) through and including Jan. 1, 2016, members of the Jewish community will invite people to their homes for a Shabbat dinner through this effort coordinated by Jewish Federation.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s mission is to sustain and enhance Jewish life at home and around the world. It takes money to do that, which is why the Jewish Federation raises funds year round and makes annual allocations to fund a variety of programs locally and internationally. Representatives of two of those recipient agencies — the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee — were in town in mid-December to explain to leaders of the Jewish Federation what they are funding and why their donations to these agencies are vital to the welfare of Jews in Israel and overseas.

People of all faiths are invited to come together for a special service in support of civil rights and to further the work of an icon of the 20th century who strived to make all people equal. 

Since Dec. 25 is a national holiday when most people do not have to work, Jewish people often look for ways to spend the day. Optometrist Jeffry D. Gerson decided to spend it helping Jewish people in need by providing comprehensive eye exams, and in some cases, eyeglasses as well.

HAPPY HANUKKAH AT THE WHITE HOUSE — Village Shalom President and CEO Matt Lewis and Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City President and CEO Jacob Schreiber were among some 500 guests attending the 2014 White House Hanukkah Reception, one of two such events that ushered in the second night of the holiday.

On Christmas Day in 1982, Marcia Eveloff, a member of Congregation Beth Shalom, volunteered at a church to serve hot meals to those in need. This act of kindness and giving inspired Eveloff to encourage her synagogue to participate in this mitzvah. After sharing the thought with Rabbi Morris Margolies, the Conservative synagogue’s senior rabbi at the time, Eveloff gained congregational support and in March 1983, Beth Shalom’s Lechem Committee was established.

Korean War vet Erwin Stern had never been to Washington, D.C., until he was chosen to participate in the Heartland Honor Flight. He said it was a great honor, as did two other Jewish men and World War II veterans — Jack Forman and Erwin LaPine.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has appointed David Radzynski, a graduate student pursing an artist diploma in violin performance at Park University’s International Center for Music, as its concertmaster. Radzynski, from Columbus, Ohio, was selected following an audition that ended on Dec. 19 in Tel Aviv. Radzynski will assume his position in March 2015.

FIRST JEWISH BABY CONTEST — Once again we are looking for that one lucky little baby, the first one born in the Jewish community in 2015, who will win some great prizes. Will the baby be born on Jan. 1 or will we have to wait until later in the month until we hear the good news?