Spend a few minutes talking to new Israeli Emissary to the Jewish Federation Ophir Hacohen and you will discover right off the bat she is not a typical shlichah (female emissary). The first thing you will notice is that she does not have a heavy Israeli accent. That’s because she spent some of her formative years living in Tulsa, Okla., while her mother represented Israel in that Jewish community.

“This experience has influenced me deeply, as I feel it has not only given me a second language, but also broadened my horizons and opened my mind to different people, cultures and experiences,” wrote Hacohen in her shlichah application.

The Federation began its emissary program in 2003 and Hacohen is the fifth person to serve in that position. She has signed a one-year contract with an option to serve another year and arrived just before the High Holidays.

The Federation is excited to have Hacohen on board.

“The moment the committee met her via Skype, we knew she would be right for Kansas City. Even before arriving she reached out to rabbis, educators and leadership introducing herself and setting up appointments. She has a tremendous amount of creativity and energy. We look forward to great things,” noted Jessica Rudnick Kaseff, chairperson of the emissary committee.

Her first name, Ophir, is pronounced o-fear. It means the biblical land where all the gold and other valuables have been imported.

This is actually the fourth time Hacohen has spent more than a few days in the States. While living in Tulsa she attended the Jewish day school, which she described as much smaller than the local Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. In 2005 the Tel Aviv native was part of a small group of teens that went to Memphis, Tenn., representing the congregation of Beit Daniel (The Center for progressive Judaism).

“While staying in Memphis, we took part in different activities with local Jewish teens and other groups in the community,” she noted.

Hacohen has also served as a summer camp counselor at the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center and visited the United States on a family vacation.

The emissary program is conducted through the Jewish Agency for Israel and Hacohen applied for both a short-term and long-term emissary position. When she was accepted to both programs, she chose to first become a summer counselor.

“I decided I would go live in the suburbs of America for a few months to see how I liked it since it’s not Tulsa and I’m not 7 years old anymore,” she said.

Now 22, she said she thinks working at summer camp gave her a very good perspective of Jewish life in America.

“It felt like a part of me that I just needed to do. Having lived in the States I’ve always felt like I’ve had a connection with Jews in America, that I understood sometimes the mentality more than other Israelis. And I had some experiences in the army dealing with groups from the States so I just felt it was the right thing to do and where I would have the most impact,” she continued.

She lives on her own here, but stayed with a host family that summer in Indianapolis.

“This, combined with camp, gave me a perspective on Jewish life in the U.S. and how a shaliach could be meaningful and influential,” she said.

She said things are the same, yet different, since the time her mother was a shlichah in Tulsa in the late ’90s.

“You can say that Jewish communities have changed and they haven’t changed. It’s still coming to the States, coming to a Jewish community, so I wouldn’t say that’s different. It’s not like traveling to Africa and living with the tribes. It’s familiar and I feel comfortable with it.

“But I think the challenges are very different. First of all my mother was older and came with a family and I’m here by myself. I think I’m reaching out to different groups. I think the challenges are different. There is so much more globalization today. The Internet is so available to everyone and I don’t think it was the same way in 1998, so it’s different challenges,” she explained.

Hacohen said she always thought she might like to be a shlichah, it was just a matter of when. She thinks now is as good a time as any and being here will help her figure out what she wants to do with her life following this adventure.

She also wanted to be a shlichah to promote and support her country.

“There are so many Jews outside of Israel that don’t know about the history and are starting to become ambivalent about it. They may hear something about Israel in the news … maybe catch the topic on the Internet or on Facebook and just see that as the truth and it’s not. If I can be here and talk to people and become friends with people … that’s how you try to change things,” she explained.

One of her main priorities will be working with college kids and young adults.

“It’s a group that either doesn’t know about Israel or learned when they were kids in a certain way and are not entirely sure what to do with that information or how they feel about it now. It’s really important because they are the leaders … Israel needs them and the community needs them,” she said.

Hacohen is very excited to be in the States again.

“I would really like to bring some different perspective on Israel,” she said. “I want to try to get people excited and interested in Israel and I think it’s a challenge.”

She is currently working on a presentation about where she comes from, what she likes about Israel and her own roots.

“I am in a point in my life where I am trying to figure out how I feel toward Israel and how to make a change when I go back. So being here and talking to people is also helping me examine my perspective on Israel. I love it but when you love something you also need to ask some hard questions. I think it’s a good way of taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. So every conversation I have here is giving me something.”

“Kansas City should not only be the center on the United States map, but also a major center on the American Jewish map,” said Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, when describing his idea to start a Jewish Scholar in Residence Series at Kehilath Israel Synagogue. “Bringing the biggest rabbinic names to town will help to showcase how special our community is to those leaders … while giving us the chance to learn from the greatest leaders of our time.”

The Caviar Family Jewish Scholar in Residence Series begins on Nov. 9, when both Rabbi Avi Weiss and Dr. Ron Wolfson come to Kansas City. Most scholar-in-residence events will be held on weekends. They include Dr. Michelle Friedman (mental health issues) in December; Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, (founder of CLAL) in January; Rabbi Robby Berman (Halachic organ donation), February; Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin (rabbi of Efrat), February; Rabbi Steven Exler, March; Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, (UCLA Hillel Director) April; Rabbi Saul Berman (Jewish law professor at Columbia University), May/Shavout.

Each of these speakers has made a tremendous impact on the Jewish community throughout the United States. Rabbi Yanklowitz chose them because they “have the extremely rare combination of deep Torah wisdom, strong public leadership, creativity and a deep wrestling with contemporary moral problems.”

“They represent,” he said, “ the new ‘Open Orthodoxy’ that is capturing minds and hearts across the country as they address the great moral and spiritual challenges and opportunities of our time with the synergy of the most traditional and most cutting-edge approaches.”

The series could not have been developed without the help of Arnold and Carol Caviar and family.

“This endowment is just another example of the Caviars deep commitment to fostering Jewish life in our community in the most significant way,” said Rabbi Yanklowitz. “There is no better investment in the Jewish community than in the highest level of Jewish education.”

Arnold and Carol Caviar are equally enthusiastic about the rabbi and the series.

“We wanted to do something good for the community and for Kehilath Israel,” Arnold Caviar said. “Rav Shmuly reached out to me with the idea, as did (K.I. President) Steve Osman. It was important to both of them. I could see how bringing these well-known individuals to Kansas City would bring K.I. to the forefront of the community.”

“The Caviar Family is to be thanked for providing a gift to the entire community,” said Osman, “by making these world famous scholars available for everyone to enjoy.”

While the programs will all be held at Kehilath Israel, they are meant to be for the entire Jewish community.

“All of our learning programs and Shabbatons are open to the entire community,” said Rabbi Yanklowitz, “because the main goal here is to build the Kansas City Jewish community, create bridges in the community, deepen our collective discourse, and spark new flames for passionate action.”

“Over a seven-month period the series will bring nine of the most forward-thinking people in the world to our city,” said Osman. “They will be speaking on a variety of topical subjects that will amaze and challenge everyone in the highest Jewish tradition of pursuing knowledge. Everyone should mark their calendars so they can attend as many events as possible.”

The plan is to create an annual program that brings the greatest Jewish minds and leaders to town. With this in mind, a program is already in the works for the fall of 2013 with Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky.

K.I. board members Joy Koesten and Gina Goldstein are chairing the committee that is planning the activities surrounding each scholar’s visit. There will be special programs and meals associated with each speaker that are open to the community and will be announced in advance. Call K.I. for more information at 913-642-1880.

This summer we learned that a seven-year struggle with the government of Israel and the Orthodox community ended in a limited victory for Israeli Reform Rabbi Miri Gold. Rabbi Gold will be here at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, to discuss this and other issues important to Reform Jews at erev Shabbat services Friday, Oct. 26. Worship begins at 6 p.m. She will be in Kansas City through Oct. 29.

In a case that went to the Israeli Supreme Court, Rabbi Gold has become the first woman and Reform rabbi to receive the right to a government-paid salary. In Israel the rabbis of each community are paid for their work, but until now that privilege had been reserved only for Orthodox rabbis. Israel’s attorney general ruled on May 29 that Rabbi Gold would indeed be granted a salary as the rabbi of Kahilat Birkat Shalom, a reform congregation based at Kibbutz Gezer that serves the region.

While Rabbi Gold has been granted the right to receive a salary now, she hasn’t seen a penny of it yet. So realistically her life hasn’t changed much, just symbolically.

“There is no difference yet because the salary is not being released,” said Rabbi Gold. “There is resistance by the Minister of Culture and Sport, which is supposed to provide the funds.”

That’s one way Rabbi Gold is being treated differently than Orthodox rabbis. They are paid by the Religious Affairs Ministry while Rabbi Gold’s salary is to be paid for by the Minister of Culture and Sport. However, she’s comfortable with payment not coming from the Religious Affairs Ministry.

“I think it avoids problems,” she said. “The Religious Affairs Ministry is run by ultra-Orthodox, and they would resist fiercely. Judaism is cultural in many ways, so it is appropriate.”

Rabbi Gold’s court victory does not just help her; it is also seen as a win for all non-Orthodox rabbis in the Jewish state. According to Rabbi Gold, “There are supposed to be 15 Reform and Conservative rabbis of rural communities eligible to receive salaries. Hopefully, this paves the way for neighborhood rabbis to get money also.”

But even with the government-approved salaries, these rabbis will still not be able to officiate at lifecycle events. For instance if a non-Orthodox rabbi officiates at a wedding, the ceremony or the marriage is still not considered legal by the Israeli government. Yet Rabbi Gold is optimistic about the role of non-Orthodox rabbis in the future.

“It will take time, but we will continue to work for change,” she said.

Many in Israel are unhappy with this decision, and are continuing to call the non-Orthodox rabbis community leaders instead of rabbi. Rabbi Gold said this is incorrect and they should indeed be called rabbis. The attorney general’s decision specifically uses the term rabbi, stating that “rabbis of non-Orthodox communities will receive salaries.”

Rabbi Gold, who made aliyah in 1977 and became a rabbi in 1999, explained the path to gaining this recognition was not easy. She was assisted by many groups including the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) and ARZA, the Reform Israel Fund, which raises money for IRAC. One of the reasons Rabbi Gold is coming to the United States is to highlight the contribution of IRAC, which has been her legal representative. She also wants to “get people to support ARZA, the Reform Israel Fund.” She is coming to the United States under the auspices of ARZA.

Even though she’s still having difficulty actually getting a paycheck from the government, all those involved still see this ruling as a victory. In a news release posted May 29 in an ARZA blog, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, said, “This is a watershed moment for the Reform Movement and for religious pluralism in Israel.”

All this legal wrangling has definitely impacted Rabbi Gold’s life.

“It meant seven years of not earning the salary I deserve,” she said. “Seven years that the Israeli Reform Movement was burdened with helping to pay salaries, using monies that could have been spent elsewhere to strengthen the movement.”

Rabbi Gold’s focus now is to build a new synagogue building for Birkat Shalom in Gezer. The Region Council of Gezer, which works with the Ministry of Religious Affairs, is helping Birkat Shalom purchase a pre-fab structure for synagogue use. She is hoping to raise money for the new synagogue building while in the United States, where she will be visiting cities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas and Washington, D.C.

Variety is the seasoning of choice for Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy senior Sam Abrams. The 17-year-old participates in many different activities both through school and the Jewish community at large, but they all have a connecting thread: education.

At the B’nai Tzedek Youth Council, he teaches Bar and Bat Mitzvah-aged kids how they can use gift money to help non-profit organizations.

“We connect them to non-profits so they can practice philanthropy and know the value of money,” Sam said.

He became involved with the group after they helped direct him to donate to the Jewish War Veterans after his Bar Mitzvah. Sam hopes his efforts at B’nai Tzedek “help kids grow into mensches.”

During the summer months, he’s also used education to help the community. At Herzl Camp, a Jewish summer program in Wisconsin, he became a junior counselor and B’nai Mitzvah tutor this year.

“Helping kids prepare for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and becoming a role model for all these kids was really a cool experience, especially after being a camper for seven years,” Sam said.

In previous years, he’s also helped out with the summer educational programs at Congregation Beth Shalom’s religious school as a Hebrew language tutor and continued to help there throughout the school year as well.

“I’ve come to realize how positive my experience was growing up at HBHA and Beth Shalom, and I want students in our area to have a similar positive experience, because I think it helps jumpstart your academic life and your career,” Sam said.

As co-president of the National Honor Society chapter at the Academy, Sam helped lead a group of students tutoring children at Roesland Elementary School. Academy teacher Laura Hewitt was impressed with how Sam handled the experience.

“Sam was assigned to work with a young man who was having a really bad day. It just was remarkable for Sam to be able to relate to him … he figured out very quickly what (kind of help) this young man needed,” Hewitt said.

Sam is no stranger to community service, having helped organize groups of students to help organic farmers with maintenance and harvesting, as well as bringing groups to Harvesters to sort food donations.

He’s also a member of the basketball and soccer teams at school, although baseball is his favorite sport. Since the Academy doesn’t have a baseball team, he plays in other leagues in the area.

Outside of school, he also is the Midwest region religious education vice president for United Synagogue Youth. Last year, he was vice president of the Kansas City chapter, where he oversaw various Israel advocacy programs.

“It’s a big responsibility, but I’m partners with every one of the chapter religious education vice presidents, so they give me a lot of help,” Sam said.

He’s organizing a meeting of approximately 250 kids from the region over Thanksgiving weekend in Omaha.

USY isn’t his only passion. After a civil rights history trip to Alabama last year, Sam found himself energized on the subject. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, this year, he found himself giving a speech on unity to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“My generation has a distance with the civil rights movements. We take those rights for granted,” Sam said. “It becomes extremely evident now how far we’ve come since Freedom Summer in 1964, and yet, we still have a far way to go.”

So what does one do with a passion for education and wide-ranging interests? After college, Sam hopes to join the foreign diplomatic service.

“My dream job would be to work in a foreign embassy or in the State Department,” he said. “I’ve been taking Hebrew for the last 10-plus years, and I’m definitely interested in the Middle East.”

He says part of the reason he’s interested in this career is that current events are always part of the dinner table conversation with his parents, Mike and Renana Abrams.

“I see America as a beacon of good. We’re a superpower, and I think we have the ability to use our influence to grant freedom to those who are oppressed and increase the mission of democracy,” he said. “With all the anti-American sentiment (in the world), I feel it’s especially important (now.)”

WOMAN WHO MEANS BUSINESS — Jamie Clayman Loud, owner and CEO of Clayman Promotional Group, was recently honored by the Kansas City Business Journal as one of 25 Women Who Mean Business. “They are without question some of the most energetic, enterprising women out there,” the journal noted. Loud runs the business, begun by her father and Congregation Ohev Sholom member Alvin Clayman in 1968, overseeing company operations, including merchandising, sourcing, sales, problem-solving and innovation, and market development.

ADVOCACY BRIEFING — Marvin Szneler, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee, traveled to Berlin recently and spent a day in the Berlin office of American Jewish Committee. He was briefed on their current activities, including advocacy relating to the circumcision ban, racist activities in Germany and advocacy efforts on behalf of Israel. AJC, which was the first American organization to open an office in Germany after World War II in 1998, also has advocacy offices throughout the world, including Mumbai, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Brussels and, of course, Jerusalem.

LEGENDARY JOURNALIST TO APPEAR AT TRUMAN LIBRARY — The sixth annual Howard & Virginia Bennett Forum on the Presidency, a signature event of the Harry S. Truman Library Institute, takes place at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Unity Temple on the Plaza. It will be moderated by Marvin Kalb and features panelists Bob Kerrey, Timothy Naftali and Margaret Hoover. The evening will be hosted by Clifto Ticket information is available at 816-235-6222 or www.TrumanLibrary.org.

MOMBA AWARDS — Village Shalom recently took top honors in two of 10 categories in the 2012 MOMBA Awards. The MOMBA Awards recognize the most creative and original programs in video, web, print and audio formats used by senior-living communities. The competition is sponsored by RetirementHomes.com, a comprehensive directory representing senior-living communities worldwide.

Nearly 200 entries were received from senior-living communities across North America, South America and Asia. A panel of four expert judges narrowed the entries to five in each category. Four weeks of online voting by the general public selected the winners.

Village Shalom won in the Best Traditional Advertising category for its “Dad” print-ad campaign, and in the Judges’ Choice category for its Internet blog featuring residents’ written accounts. Sean Roark, Village Shalom marketing manager, developed the winning ad campaign and resident blog.

COMBATTING SEXUAL ASSAULT — A close friend invited me to be her guest last week at MOCSA’s annual Johnson County Fall Forum. MOCSA is the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault. I sat at a table with a lot of Jewish woman who felt it was important to remind me that sexual assault (and domestic violence) does happen in the Jewish community. MOCSA has produced a DVD called “Lockers: A Teen Relationship Series,” which discusses the difficult issues facing teens in regard to sexual violence. I highly recommend all Jewish teen groups contact MOSCA to make arrangements to see it. For more information visit www.mocsa.org.

Correction

The time for the Rabbi Gershon Hadas Memorial Lecture featuring Dr. Joseph P. Schultz, former director of the UMKC Danciger Judaic Studies Program, listed in the article in the Oct. 11 edition of The Chronicle was incorrect. The event takes place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 21, at Congregation Beth Shalom at its Lamar Campus.

Rabbi Joseph P. Schultz, Ph.D., is well known in Kansas City for a variety of reasons. He taught at the University of Missouri-Kansas City from 1973 to 1999, eventually serving as the director of the Center of Religious Studies and the Danciger Judaic Studies Program. He also edited “Mid America’s Promise: A Profile of Kansas City Jewry,” in 1982, a book widely recognized as a concise history of Kansas City and used by this writer as a reference book on many occasions.

While he was in Kansas City Dr. Schultz spent years exploring mystical traditions in Judaism and other faiths. All this study eventually led to the recent publication of not one but two books on Jewish mysticism. They are “The Kabbalistic Journey: From Religion to Spirituality to Mysticism” and “In Search of Higher Wisdom: Conversations About Religion, Spirituality and Mysticism.”

Both were self-published through Harbor Haven Press, a cooperative publishing group. The books are for sale at amazon.com and Dr. Schultz hopes to get a few on the shelves soon at Rainy Day Books.

“The Kabbalistic Journey” and “In Search of Higher Wisdom” are described as giving readers many insights into the Kabbalah — ancient Jewish mystical teachings dating back thousands of years. They are designed to take readers beyond the hype of Hollywood celebrities and show them what the Kabbalah is really all about.

Although Dr. Schultz is also an ordained rabbi, his books explore topics of interest to people of all faiths. The discussions range from spiritual healing, to individual life destiny and to the relationship between faith and the very latest discoveries in science.

Dr. Schultz will discuss both books at two local presentations. The first will take place on Oct. 21 at Congregation Beth Shalom and the second on Oct. 24 at Congregation Beth Torah.

Dr. Schultz retired from UMKC in 1999 and moved to Golden, Colo. He continued teaching in Colorado part-time at three universities — the University of Denver, Naropa University (a Buddhist-sponsored university) and the University of Colorado, both in Boulder. In 2007 the Schultzes moved back to Brookline, Mass., where he began his career.

“I was the assistant rabbi here at Congregation Kehillath Israel,” he said from his home in Brookline late last week. “We had connections here and we had some friends and we liked the Boston area very, very much so we decided to come back.”

Dr. Schultz said he decided to write two books on mysticism instead of one after two Harbor Haven editors suggested it. He explained “The Kabbalistic Journey” is a scholarly book while “In Search of Higher Wisdom” is aimed at a more mainstream audience. Both books — he now has written eight books altogether — are filled with different material.

“ ‘The Kabbalistic Journey’ is not a completely academic type of book, because it’s written very clearly and without any academic jargon,” Dr. Schultz explained. “But it does have footnotes. It does have a glossary and there are extensive discussions in it of a number of issues.”

“The editors felt there should be a popular book that goes along with it that is much more direct and doesn’t get into extensive discussions and has no notes,” he continued.

“So the popular book, called ‘In Search of Higher Wisdom,’ is actually a conversation between myself, (my son) Eric and (my daughter) Reena. They ask questions, we get into discussions.”

Eric Schultz is a local multi-media journalist at 41 Action News. When Dr. Schultz discusses his new books here in Kansas City, Eric will serve as the interviewer. Both Eric and Reena attended the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, where their mother, Bella, served as lower school principal and director of Judaic studies. Reena Schultz lives in Brookline and designed the covers of both books.

“I had a feeling that since she was so much a part of the discussions that went into this book that she would have a far more intuitive sense of the kind of art that should go into something like this and she did,” the author and proud father said.
Both books are dedicated to the Schultzes’ late daughter, Chary. Dr. Schultz said it was a joy to work with his family on these books.

“It was a very interesting series of inputs that we had over the years. We would sit down, we would discuss these things and there would be questions. Then there would be objections and we would come back and mull it over again. It went on for a long time,” he said while chuckling.

Dr. Schultz estimates it took him eight to 10 years to complete these books.

“My treatment of the Kabbalah is in a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary framework. That means I draw on a number of other disciplines outside of Jewish studies: psychology, history, even contemporary views of quantum physics in dealing with kabbalistic themes. The idea is we want to look at these issues from the widest possible angles. To do all of that takes a lot of time,” he explained.

He said he was able to approach his study of Kabbalah in this way because at UMKC he helped developed and taught an interdisciplinary course program on the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also learned a lot from his participation in a series of retreats run by the Menninger Foundation in Topeka. They were sponsored by Dr. Elmer Green, who Dr. Schultz described as the father of clinical bio feedback.

“These retreats were held in Council Grove, Kan. There Dr. Green brought in people from all over the world who were engaged in the research of higher consciousness, spirituality, mysticism, psychology, people working in a variety of fields … Some of the people that were working with Dr. Green were Hindu swamis and Buddhist Lamas from Tibet. It was an extremely exciting experience and it was there that I got this conception of putting the Kabbalah into the context of this higher vision of integrated studies and a larger framework,” he explained

A lot of the issues Dr. Schultz discusses in the book arose from experiences he had across the years in a variety of different settings, including UMKC and at Boston University.

“What I tried to do is make these issues concrete by explaining who the people were that were involved in these situations so that it doesn’t just appear to be theoretical discussions but dealing with live human experiences, live concrete people.”

Dr. Schultz said both books are “very, very current.”

“I think they address issues that are extremely important to many, many thinking people. I like both books very much and I think that they will be of interest to people who are looking for something like this.”

Book presentations set for Beth Shalom, Beth Torah

Rabbi Joseph P. Schultz, Ph.D., will discuss his two new books about Jewish mysticism at the Rabbi Gershon Hadas Memorial Lecture, at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at Congregation Beth Shalom. The presentation will feature a dialogue between Schultz and his son, multimedia specialist Eric Schultz, of Kansas City’s 41 Action News.

This free event is open to the public. No registration necessary. For more information, contact Alan Edelman, associate director of the Jewish Federation at or 913-327-8104.

This event is sponsored by CAJE/Jewish Federation, Congregation Beth Shalom and the Jewish Community Center.

Dr. Schultz will also give a presentation at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Congregation Beth Torah. Titled “The Kabbalist Journey,” this event is also free and open to the public. For more information call Beth Torah at 913-498-2212.

We are hearing more and more about the divide in Israel between Orthodox Jews, non-Orthodox and even secular Jews. Next weekend Congregation BIAV will host a scholar in residence who is well known across the world for his work in helping Jews bridge that divide.

Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder and director of ITIM: Resources and Advocacy for Jewish Life, is known for helping Israelis navigate the Israeli religious bureaucracy. When he speaks in the United States, his topics usually focus on the Jewish and democratic state and the present and future of Jewish life in Israel. He will speak three times at BIAV next weekend, beginning Friday night, Oct. 19, about “How Jewish is the Jewish and Democratic State” at the home of Brenda and Howard Rosenthal. At Shabbat morning worship at BIAV on Oct. 20, Rabbi Farber will discuss “The Crisis of Jewish Life in Israel.” Later that afternoon he will discuss “New Halachot Emerging from Israel’s Rabbinical Courts.” These events are all open to the Jewish community; for more information about the scholar-in-residence weekend, call 913-341-2444 or email office@biav.

While he is in Kansas City, Rabbi Farber will also make a presentation to the Israel and Overseas Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.

ITIM is an organization that aims to assist Israelis with the legal intricacies of personal status — marriage, divorce, conversion and burial — which are administered in a manner that often leave families bewildered, overwhelmed and resentful.
BIAV’s Rabbi Daniel Rockoff said Rabbi Farber has created a unique and “singularly important organization” that handles these issues.

“It helps individuals and families navigate their way through life cycle events in Israel by helping them obtain proper documentation and work through the Israeli rabbinate, which has not always been so user friendly,” Rabbi Rockoff said.

“This is especially true for secular or non-Orthodox individuals who often feel excluded and even alienated through the process,” BIAV’s rabbi continued. “The gap between religious and secular in Israel seems ever widening and Rabbi Farber’s work is so important to help bridge that gap.”

Rabbi Farber moved to Israel in 1995. It was after performing his first wedding for a secular couple in 2000 that he realized how alienated young Israelis feel from Jewish life.

“Yet, ironically, they are very interested in living Jewish lives. Starting in 2000, I raised some initial money and hired a lawyer to help me map out what existed for non-Orthodox Israelis. By 2002, we had created a non-profit and were handling about 20 calls a month,” Rabbi Farber said.

Now as ITIM begins its second decade, the rabbi said the organization handles more than 500 calls a month. Its website (www.itim.org.il) has more than 50,000 unique users each year and the organization has a 14-member staff. Rabbi Farber said its mission is simple.

“To enable people in Israel to live full Jewish lives.”

Rabbi Rockoff said BIAV is bringing Rabbi Farber here because he thinks there is a lot of misunderstanding between the different denominations in Kansas City.

“I believe it’s not so much between the rabbis, but more so among the general community. And generally I believe there is a lack of understanding of the complexities of Jewish life in Israel, particularly in matters that relate to the rabbinate. There are many challenges that we should be sensitive to, but I hope it will be most instructive to hear from someone like Rabbi Farber. He is sensitive to the needs of all Jews and can articulate the facts on the ground — the challenges, as well as the opportunities and solutions that he spearheaded,” Rabbi Rockoff said.

In the more than 10 years since he created ITIM, Rabbi Farber has come to believe that Orthodox Jews and non-Orthodox Jews need to learn to trust each other in a way that they can work together on difficult issues of personal status. He believes we have no choice but to work to make this happen.

“There are definitely areas which we can work on to start. We ought to be able to agree on certain things and outline the differences. In Israel, and this may be the same in the United States as well, the movements are all fighting ambivalence and ignorance. This should be enough to get us started. No one in any of the movements wants to see intermarriage in Israel or in the Diaspora rise. So we need to work together to see what we can do to stem the tide,” Rabbi Farber said.

Rabbi Rockoff has known Rabbi Farber since he was a high school student at Maimonides School in Brookline, Mass., where Rabbi Farber taught Judaic studies.

“He made an incredible impact on his students, both with his teaching in the classroom and with the connections he developed through school activities, which he also coordinated,” Rabbi Rockoff said.

Coincidentally, Rabbi Farber has personal ties to Kansas City. His grandfather, Morris Frankel, his wife Anny and their two daughters, Trudy and Esther (Rabbi Farber’s mother), came to the United States through Ellis Island in 1939. Rabbi Farber said, “They couldn’t make it in New York. So the family moved to Kansas City.”

“My grandfather worked as a shammes, I don’t think this role exists any more, in one of the shuls. He was also a shochet and possibly a kashrut inspector,” said Rabbi Farber, who no longer has any family in the area.

He grew up in Riverdale, Bronx, N.Y., and is a graduate of New York University. He was ordained by the Rabbi Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1991; he received his master’s degree in Judaic studies from Yeshiva University in 1995 and a doctorate from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2000.

Rabbi Farber currently lives in Raanana with his wife and five children. He serves as the pulpit rabbi of Congregation Kehillat Netivot.

How would you feel if you were excluded time and again by your classmates for behaving in a way you couldn’t control? As a parent, you would become saddened for your child.

Word is getting out that, with the help of Sasone, our children are being accepted, included and celebrated. Sasone is a program of CAJE/Jewish Federation that supports children with special needs so they can participate in Jewish educational experiences. This is the story of one of many families who have been helped by Sasone and would like to share their experience.

A Team Effort

The previous day camp Abbie Rieber attended had assured her parents that they could accommodate children with special needs. Then the camp kicked her out. Last summer, Abbie, a seventh-grader at Indian Woods Middle School, had the courage to try again. Only this time she was going to camp at the Jewish Community Center. And this time, with Sasone involved, Abbie was accepted, included and, most importantly, successful in achieving her goals.

“First, before camp started, we had a meeting with parents and paraprofessionals,” said Felicia Holcomb, a Sasone consultant assigned to work with families and staff at the JCC camps. “Parents and paras were able to sit down and talk about their child’s interests and needs, share IEPs (individual education plans), discuss strategies that were effective at home and school, and agree on goals for camp.”

Prior to the start of camp, paras met again with parents and interacted with the children to whom they were assigned, so that by the time camp started the paras were fully equipped to ensure a successful experience for everyone involved.

No Worries

For many children with special needs, camp presents distinct challenges. Unlike school, camp has a less structured environment with indoor and outdoor activities led by senior and junior counselors, most of whom have no experience supervising special needs youngsters.

“Abbie is very smart academically, but has a hard time talking to other people and wants to be the center of attention,” said her mother, Suzy Siegler Rieber. “At school, she goes along with the program, but at camp she needed more breaks and redirection. She came to the JCC camp really worried that, if she was herself, she would be kicked out. They immediately assured her that being kicked out wasn’t an option.”

Every afternoon, Abbie came home with a written summary from her Sasone consultant or para of the day’s activities — what she learned, what was challenging and how it was handled — which Rieber found helpful to spark constructive conversations with her daughter.

“I cannot stress too much the importance of parent involvement,” said Holcomb. “It helps the paras feel confident, gives us accurate information and helps keep goals consistent at both home and camp.”

Supporting Our Kids

The ultimate challenge for Abbie was whether she would be able to manage her emotions in order to participate in the final performance at theater camp, one of the many specialty camps the JCC offers each summer. To everyone’s delight, Abbie did a wonderful job.

“I give a lot of credit to Sasone for helping her with that,” Rieber said.

After JCC camp ended, Abbie spent two weeks in the Tikvah program for adolescents with special needs at Camp Ramah in Colorado.

“I felt like her experience at the JCC gave her the confidence to succeed at sleep-away camp,” said Rieber. “I’ve drunk the Sasone Kool-Aid. I think they do a wonderful service to these kids who just have challenges. And a lot of kids do now. We encourage others to join us in helping to support Sasone.”

Sasone has been generously supported through the years by foundations and many individuals in our community. Still, the number of families that need help continues to grow.

“Camp costs more than everything else we do year-round,” said Sasone’s Holcomb. “Unlike Sunday school and other programs that are a few hours a week, camp is full-time for eight weeks and involves the most children.

“People don’t realize that Sasone relies on donors. This is all made possible by generous contributions from our community, and every little bit makes a big difference.”

Visit www.sasone.org for more information about Sasone and to help other kids like Abbie.

YOUNG NETANYAHU — A couple of Kansas City camp counselors and siblings, Daniel Siegel and Andrew Siegel, spent the summer with Avner Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at Camp Young Judaea Midwest in central Wisconsin. Avner, who is a Tsofim, (Israeli Scout,) was assigned to the camp. Andrew Siegel said he didn’t know the young Netanyahu, or his guards, would be there for the summer until he got there, but said it was a blast spending the summer with him. “He was great. He’s actually quite wise for a 17-year-old,” said Andrew, who is a 20-year-old junior at KU and the son of Lisa and Steve Siegel. Camp Director Noah Gallagher, in a email sent to supporters after the camp session, said when he first heard the young Netanyahu would spend the summer at CYJ Midwest, he worried accommodating such a high-profile staff member would inhibit the camp’s ability to create the sense of family that makes CYJ so special, but that was not the case. In fact, Gallagher believes that sense of family is exactly the reason Avner was assigned to CYJ. We’re told at least four other campers and counselors at CYJ Midwest this summer had Kansas City ties as well.

FUN WITH HUMANS — Members of the Jewish Community Center staff, including President & CEO Jacob Schreiber, form a human ‘JCC KC’ that was used for an internal video for the JCC’s first-ever All Employee Meeting, held in late September. It was the first time in the organization’s 98-year history that all full- and part-time staff members were invited to participate. Two hundred individuals attended the informational and motivational gathering.

CANCELLATIONS — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum program, “Refuge Denied: The Voyage of The St. Louis,” featuring Scott Miller, director of Curatorial Affairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 14, at Kehilath Israel Synagogue has been postponed.

In addition, the discussion Miller planned to lead following the 2 p.m. showing of “The Rescuers” at the Kansas City Jewish Film Festival Sunday afternoon has also been cancelled.

For more information on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and its 20th Anniversary, visit http://neveragain.ushmm.org or contact Jed Silberg in the Museum’s Midwest Regional Office at 847-433-8099 or .

Corrections

A critical word was left out of an article featuring Bret Stephens, the featured speaker at the AIPAC Israel Action Forum from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. The correct statement is: “This is NOT ‘yelling fire in a theater,’ this is an inevitable happening in a free society where you have 314 million Americans expressing their views in a non-stop cacophony.”

Several names were omitted from the Sept. 27 article about AIPAC’s team of volunteers: Rabbi Binyomin and Gevura Davis, liaisons to the KC Kollel, and Melanie Allmayer, synagogue ambassador to Congregation Ohev Sholom.

In the same article, the rank of Kansas City native Jason Barnett, a non-commissioned officer in the IDF, was reported incorrectly. He has attained the rank of first sergeant.

The Reform movement and the Central Conference of American Rabbis is piloting a new High Holiday machzor (prayer book) and Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka is one of about 70 congregations that used the new Kol Nidre service last week. No other congregation in the Kansas City area participated in the pilot.

Rabbi Debbie Stiel said this is the first major rewriting the Reform movement has done on its High Holiday prayer book in more than 100 years. The rabbi of the 110-member congregation believes it was time for the Reform movement to revise its High Holiday machzor.

“I’m grateful that this congregation wanted to give this a try,” she said.

One of the rabbis responsible for the new machzor is Rabbi Edwin Goldberg, a Kansas City native who is senior rabbi at Temple Judea in Coral Gables, Fla. As he notes in Beth Sholom’s monthly newsletter, “The Gates of Repentance,” has been the Reform movement’s main prayer book since 1978. He continued that while it had some new readings and prayers in it, “the Reform movement hasn’t put a machzor together from scratch since 1894, just revisions.”

Rabbi Stiel said she believes her congregation enjoyed the revisions.

“I think it went pretty well. Anytime you use a new prayer book there’s a certain learning curve and with this one there were so many options it was a little hard to judge how much to put in and how much to leave out,” she said.

According to the committee putting together the new machzor, this new book is expected to be the Reform movement’s indispensable manual and guide for the High Holy Days.

“We aim to create a machzor that will serve Reform Jews as they seek repentance, new direction and a sense of return to God and the Jewish people,” notes the committee in the machzor’s vision statement.

Like “Mishkan T’fillah,” the Reform machzor that debuted a few years ago for Shabbat and weekday services, this machzor is largely gender neutral and provides both traditional prayers and optional, contemporary exploration of the traditional themes.

“People seemed to really like the options and the gender-neutral language. Most of the responses we’ve gotten have been very positive,” Rabbi Stiel said.

This is the second year congregations across the country have been testing different services in the new book. Another portion of the book will be tested next year.

Several members of Beth Sholom’s Religious Services Committee saw the draft of the Kol Nidre service before it was used. Since the draft includes several options, much like “Mishkan T’fillah,” some members of this committee presented the rabbi with feedback even before the book was used at worship.

In her monthly message to members via the temple newsletter, Rabbi Stiel urged congregants to keep an open mind about the new prayer book during the service.

“Anytime we change something that becomes as standard and familiar to us as our prayer book, it takes time to adjust to it. Lots of the prayers we will say on erev Yom Kippur will be the same ones we have always said. But in some instances we will try the more interpretive options. I hope the new words will add meaningful new insights for all of us. Once again we Jews will be taking what is foundational in our faith and adding our layer to it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it,” she wrote.

The rabbi, who pointed out that the congregation’s participation in this pilot was covered by the Topeka Capital Journal newspaper, said she personally liked many of the alternative reading selections, contemporary and traditional prayers and gender sensitive translations.

“There were some nice study pieces about forgiveness,” she said. “There is also some really nice poetry and different meditation pieces that reflected on a whole range of themes, but they were great for thinking about for the High Holy Days.”

The only thing she really did not like was the translation of the Kol Nidre.

“In the Reform movement’s current machzor, ‘Gates of Repentance,’ the translation for Kol Nidre says ‘let all our vows and oaths … we incur to You, O God, between this Yom Kippur and the next, be null and void should we, after honest effort, find ourselves unable to fulfill them.’ The current draft machzor says “All vows … which we promise and swear to God … let all of them be discarded and forgiven. …” Nowhere in this new translation does it say anything about us trying first to keep our promises before discarding them. That struck me and others as a serious omission. So I hope that will change by the time the CCAR creates its permanent new machzor.

Rabbis and members of congregations who piloted the service, including some from Temple Beth Sholom, will give feedback to the committee regarding the service. Rabbi Stiel was scheduled to participate in a focus group conference call about the machzor earlier this week.

Rabbi Stiel said she believes the pilot service will be used at the temple again next year.

“We own these draft copies now so we will probably use them again next year, since people seemed to like them. Maybe we’ll pick some different selections from the book.”