THE SINGING RABBI — Rabbi Larry Karol recently mounted a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to record a third album. The Kansas City native surpassed his initial fundraising goal last week and hopes to

Last year’s first grade Matmidim participants at HBHA — Mendel Tiechtel (from left), Chaya Morgenstern, Zachary Granoff, Rayli Kopelman, Baruch Chaim Mazel, Livia Noorollah and Ari Green — posed for this photo as they prepared for their studies. The dual Jewish studies tracks allow all the school’s students to benefit from the school’s excellence in general and Jewish studies, while finding the right observance level to match how their family practices in the home.

As Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy continues to grow its Jewish studies program, the 2014-15 school year will be marked by the Matmidim program’s expansion into fifth grade, as well as the addition of Rabbi

Barney Goodman Campers gathered around Israeli shlichim (emissaries) Sapir Davidov (top row, second from left) and Noy Tiram (top row, second from right). Now that camp is over, they will travel a little before returning to Israel.

Almost every summer the Jewish Community Center’s Barney Goodman Camp hosts Israeli shlichim (emissaries) who teach the children about Israel through a variety of summer camp activities. This year, for the

“Living Beyond Terrorism,” Zieva Dauber Konvisser, Gefen Publishing, May 2014

It was Aug. 9, 2001. I was in Jerusalem after a 19-year absence to attend a Hadassah national convention and do research to write a memoir, “Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Foreign Correspondent

L’SHALOM, L’SALAAM, TO PEACE — Sheila Sonnenschein is now involved in Mothers on the Side of Peace, a new grassroots movement for people — you don’t have to be a mother — who side with peace. “It

Photo by Josh Goteiner: Yosef Silver (from left), Simon Majumdar of the Food Network and Rabbi Mendel Segal, executive director of the Vaad HaKashruth and the KC Kosher BBQ Competition and Festival, mugged for the camera at last year’s festival.

If you like kosher barbecue, you won’t have to wait much longer for the annual KC Kosher BBQ Competition and Festival. This year the third annual will take place Sunday, Aug. 17, outside of the Ritz Charles in Overland Park. (For details, see box Page 20.)