Rabbi Dani Rockoff has been trying to get Rabbi Kenneth Brander to visit Kansas City for three years, since the inception of the Yeshiva University Kansas City Summer Experience internship program began. This year, with two of Rabbi Brander’s children in the program — son Tuvia, leading the group for the third time, and daughter Tehilla as a participant — Rabbi Brander unhesitatingly agreed.

Rabbi Brander will highlight this last Shabbat of the interns’ four-week stay in the Greater Kansas City Jewish community, serving as a scholar-in-residence for Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner. Only 10 interns were accepted this year from an applicant pool of 56, said Tuvia Brander, a rabbinical student at the Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of YU, who serves as the 11th member of the group and serves as program director and rabbinic intern at BIAV.

“It is Rabbi Brander’s vision and ongoing support that made this program into the successful model into which it has grown. Other cities, such as Houston, Chicago and South Bend, have created similar models,” said Rabbi Rockoff, the spiritual leader of the modern Orthodox synagogue. “As we look to building our community, there is no greater voice to learn from than that of Rabbi Brander.”

Hosting Rabbi Brander is quite a coup, added Rabbi Rockoff. Because Rabbi Brander’s position takes him away so often from his family and community in Teaneck, N.J., he normally does not accept many speaking engagements. But the success of the K.C. internship program not only gives him a chance to see it in action but will also help him build the growing repertoire of programs and initiatives of YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), which he leads.

“Obviously the internships are critically important. One aspect to the value of attending Yeshiva University is our ability to help our undergraduates with their professional growth by giving them unique internships and research opportunities in companies and facilities around North America,” Rabbi Brander noted. “Furthermore, the Torah learning with community members in the evening, after their internships, models the lifestyle we wish for them to emulate — engagement in society through work and recognizing their responsibility to be leaders in the Jewish communities they reside in.”

Named Dean, Rabbi Brander officially launched the CJF in 2005. According to YU’s website, its goal is to help “YU’s efforts to shape and effectively impact Jewish life and the Jewish future. Collaborating with YU colleges, schools and affiliates, CJF helps to build programs and initiatives, which actively develop future Jewish lay and professional leadership.”

Prior to accepting the position, Rabbi Brander led Florida’s Boca Raton Synagogue. He was also the founding dean of the Boca Raton Community Kollel as well as founder of the Weinbaum Yeshiva High School of Broward and Palm Beach Counties. During his 14 years of service there, he oversaw its explosive growth from 60 families to some 600 families. Under his leadership, the Hahn Judaic Campus was built to include the Boca Raton Community Mikvah, a sanctuary, library, social hall, a youth and senior center and a yeshiva high school.

“More than any specific topics, I look forward to visiting with the community, spending some time with Rabbi Rockoff and the leadership, learning from your wonderful work and seeing if I can be helpful in anyway,” explained Rabbi Brander. “I will be spending time with the group of YU students. I want to help them process and realize the wonderful opportunities that there are for young people to live in communities like K.C.,” added Rabbi Brander, who will be accompanied by his wife, Ruchie, and 7-year-old son, Yitzhak. Two other sons, Yoni and Yosef, are at Camp Stone in Sugar Grove, Penn.

The interns — five men and five women who hail from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Ohio and Michigan — are busy interning at such diverse businesses and non-profits as Blue Star Benefits, the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, Jewish Family Service, the Urban League, as well as shadowing health professionals from eye surgeons to geneticists. They major in academic areas from marketing, math, art history, Judaic studies and political science to physics, English lit, biology and Jewish education. Two have already graduated YU and will begin working in their fields this summer; the rest will be entering their junior or senior year at Stern College for Women or Yeshiva University.

“I saw an opportunity to really learn from a unique community and combine that with real work experience,” said Samantha Feldman, a recent graduate from Lancaster, Penn. She’s been working in the development department at the Urban League, helping to design and organize some upcoming fundraisers. “Every day is another day of meeting fantastic people and learning new things,” she added.

Noted Alan Avitan of Cleveland, who is interning at Blue Star Benefits: “We get to be integrated in a totally new Jewish community other than our own and are given the opportunity to meet and learn with completely amazing people. We also go on trips that really show us all that Kansas has to offer.”

Both agree that without the YU KC Summer Experience they probably would not have had the opportunity to work at such high level jobs, nor would they have been able to explore what communities like Kansas City have to offer. Credit goes to Margie Robinow, finance vice president of BIAV, who raised the funds needed to support the program.

“We want to grow Kansas City Jewishly,” said Robinow. “These are very bright young people — and we have jobs here. Let’s teach the rest of the world that Kansas City is a great place to live — and a great place to live Jewish.”

“The Mystical Identity of Shabbat” will be the topic of Rabbi Brander’s d’var Torah at 9:45 p.m. this Friday evening, June 15, at the Robinow home. During Shabbat services on Saturday at BIAV, he will discuss “The Future of Orthodoxy: Challenges and Opportunities.” Rabbi Brander will conclude with “Beit Ha’Mikdash, Beit Ha’Sefer and Mikdash Ma’at: Exploring the Contemporary Role of a Synagogue and School” at 6:45 p.m. Saturday evening, prior to Mincha.

Rabbi Brander will be the second speaker in the last month to come to BIAV to discuss the future of the Jewish community. Dr. Steve Savitsky, chairman of the board for the Orthodox Union, addressed the congregation about “Major Issues that Face the Jewish Family in the 21st Century.”

“Mr. Savitsky has long championed what he terms ‘Emerging Communities,’ something he coined to change the perspective of those living in large metropolitan areas,” said Rabbi Rockoff. “For years he has seen that the future of the Jewish community cannot be sustained only in New York, LA, or Chicago. There need to be thriving communities everywhere. His visit is a sign of his support of communities such as ours to join the growing network of cities growing into viable options for Orthodox families around the country.”

“This YU summer experience allows our students to see larger the Jewish community and that there is a wonderful quality Jewish life past the New Jersey Turnpike,” added Rabbi Brander.

The summer interns  have definitely been able to experience life outside a large Orthodox community.

“Between learning from the staff and services of Jewish Family Service to learning with and from the people of BIAV, I have seen what it means to live a life dedicated to one’s professional life as well as dedicated and passionate about one’s community,” said intern Miriam Barth of Detroit.

Tehilla Brander, a junior at Stern, majoring in biology, added, “The program seemed like the perfect balance of what I would like to do in my adult life — mainly, having the balance between a career while also being involved in the community.”

For more information about the YU KC Summer Experience or Rabbi Brander’s visit here, call Congregation BIAV at 913-341-2444.

Barnett C. Helzberg Jr. was fortunate to have a mentor, and a famous Kansas City businessman at that. That mentor was Ewing Marion Kauffman, affectionately known as Mr. K, the founder of Marion Laboratories and owner of the Kansas City Royals.

Helzberg and Mr. K maintained a mentoring relationship for 23 years, until he passed away almost 20 years ago. One day, Helzberg thanked Mr. K for his help and support and Mr. K replied, “That’s okay, you’ll help someone someday.”

Indeed he has. In the preface of his new book, “Entrepreneurs + Mentors = Success: 22 Convincing Stories” (Rockhill Books, 2012, written along with Deborah Shouse), Helzberg writes that Mr. K’s comment certainly helped inspire the creation of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program (HEMP). That program, in turn, spurred the publication of this book.

“The purpose of this book,” he writes” is to encourage entrepreneurs (who are open to mentoring) to select a mentor and also become a part of a networking group. It may also encourage the startup of entrepreneurial mentoring programs.”

Helzberg owned and operated Helzberg Diamonds, working in the family business for 39 years before selling it to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 1995. That same year he founded HEMP. HEMP matches seasoned, successful entrepreneur mentors with less-experienced entrepreneur mentees. HEMP is dedicated to strengthening entrepreneurial leaders through excellence in mentoring.

The book includes the stories of 22 of Helzberg-described HEMP heroes. The mentee stories show exactly what the mentees, and their businesses, gained from the HEMP program. In one case, the mentee-mentor relationship went so well (after a somewhat rocky start), the couple married after the official HEMP relationship ended.

“When we started this program someone said we should document it. We put these stories in a book to show people how it works,” Helzberg said.

Readers will recognize the names of many members of the Jewish community mentioned in the book. At least two Jewish mentees, Joe Lieberman and Missy Love, have their stories featured.

Helzberg is such a believer in the mentoring process that he wrote the book simply to “spread the gospel of mentoring” and promote mentor programs in general.

“I’m not trying to make money,” he said. “The real deal is promoting networking and peer mentoring.”

The book will sell for $14.95 and will be available at a variety of book outlets. He said an online version will sell for 99 cents. Those who purchase the hard copy of the book will also get a free version of the ebook. Proceeds from the book will benefit HEMP.

Helzberg also hopes the book will be used at colleges that have entrepreneurship programs.

“The goal of the book is to convince people that mentors can help and want to help,” said Helzberg, who has also written “What I Learned Before I Sold to Warren Buffett: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Developing a Highly Successful Company,” and co-authored “I Am Loved,” with his wife, Shirley Bush Helzberg.

Over the years he’s learned that mentors want to help others and love and enjoy doing it.

“You’ll read how these mentors and HEMP have saved businesses. It’s created employment,” Helzberg said.

The HEMP program, Helzberg reports, is full. He said he’s been a “stick in the mud” about expanding the program because he would like it to stay workable. It’s grown over the years to include about 160 people now.

“Originally we said it was a three-year program. Then we found that we couldn’t get rid of the alumni. They wouldn’t leave. So we have fellows. They participate, they come to meetings, they contribute financially. It’s been a great experience for me,” he said.

Helzberg said through HEMP he’s met a lot of people he never would have known.

“I was in one business for 39 years, now I would say I’m in 40 businesses,” he said.
Surprisingly, he said he doesn’t believe he himself is a good mentor.

“I’m a mentee. I don’t even volunteer to be a mentor anymore. This started not because I’m a mentor but because I’m a mentee,” he said.

While he’s not an official mentor, Helzberg is always available to speak to any mentee who has a challenge.

“I love being that kind of a mentor,” he said.

Another thing he enjoys about his involvement with HEMP is attending small lunches with mentees known as Lunch with the Big Guy.

“I was the smallest kid in class all my life but now I’m the Big Guy,” said Helzberg, who is taking a sabbatical this year from teaching at Rockhurst University.

Because of a “code of confidentiality” that goes hand-in-hand with the Lunch with the Big Guy program, he said the attendees have really learned a lot about each other.

“We agree nothing goes out of the room without permission, so the HEMPers really open up. Basically there’s been no breach. These lunches are six to eight people …. We’ve heard some amazing stories, good and bad,” he recalled.

He often shares with others what he believes is the best advice he received from Mr. K.

“Most people tell you pay as little as possible. I would go to (Mr. K) and actually talk about payroll and we would enjoy raising salaries. That’s not the attitude of most business people. It made me think I wasn’t an idiot. He had this attitude of sharing and I think that was really dramatic for me. He said ‘share the wealth and enjoy doing it,’ ” Helzberg said.

KC Library book discussion features Helzberg, Kemper

No matter what the business problem, there’s usually someone who’s dealt with it before.

Over the last 17 years that philosophy has made a rousing success of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program, which pairs up-and-coming men and women of business with veterans willing to share a lifetime of knowledge and insights.

Author and businessman Barnett C. Helzberg Jr. and Library Director Crosby Kemper III will hold a public conversation with some of the local entrepreneurs profiled in Helzberg’s new book “Entrepreneurs + Mentors = Success: 22 Convincing Stories,” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at the Kansas City Public Library, 14 W. 10th Street.

Admission is free. The event will be preceded by a 6 p.m. reception. RSVP online at kclibrary.org or call 816-701-3407.

Every summer the Jewish Community Center brings an Israeli emissary here to teach campers at its Barney Goodman Camp. This year not one but two shlichot (female emissaries) will be on staff. Ma’ayan Osher-Levinger and Paz Riecher arrived here the last week in May and will remain through the last day of camp, which is Aug. 3.

Bridey Stangler, director of JCC camps, has worked with a lot of Israeli shlichot at camp over the years, but she was blown away by what they can offer when she recently traveled to Israel to attend a working seminar on the subject. She is more excited than ever before about having them at camp.

“They will be such a valuable resource for us and our campers this summer,” Stangler said. “We also hope to share them with the community. If other groups want to invite them to events to learn about them and a little more about Israel while they are here in June and July, we would love to help arrange that.”

Before camp even started on Monday, June 11, they had already been out and about in the community. Along with their host family, Jacob Schreiber, JCC’s executive director, and his wife Edna Levy and their children, they made deliveries for Yachad-The Kosher Food Pantry. At the end of the first month, they will switch host families.

Groups who wish to make arrangements to meet with the shlichot should contact Stangler or Danny Altshull at the JCC camp office, 913-327-8060.

“We just want to show them the good side of Israel,” Osher-Levinger said.

“We want to tell everyone that it’s safe to come and visit Israel,” Riecher added.

The shlichot are among more than 200 emissaries representing the Jewish Agency for Israel at Jewish summer camps all over the world. They have all completed their army or national service, speak conversational English and have experience working with children and teens in youth movements, community centers and/or the army.

The two young women met for the first time at a training seminar about a month before they came to Kansas City. In the army, Osher-Levinger was an intake officer. She decided who would enter the army as well as where and what they would do.

“It’s like a psychologist. We had a lot of training before we started,” said Osher-Levinger, who has previously spent time in the States as well as Europe.

Riecher trained soldiers to shoot mortars, weapons that fire explosive projectiles. This is her first visit to the United States. Both women will travel across the country for a month after camp before they return to Israel.

Kol Yisrael

The classroom where the shlichot will spend time with the BG campers is decorated with photos of the people and places of Israel. Most of the people in the photos are friends and family of either Riecher or Osher-Levinger. An army uniform is tacked to the wall as well for an added personal touch.

Each BG group will see the shlichot once a week for a Kol Yisrael lesson. During that time, Osher-Levinger explained, they will teach the children about life in Israel.

Emily Williams, BG’s programming director, explained that the shlichot have a dual mission this year.

“The most important thing is for our campers to really get to know our home culture in a lot of ways. We also want them to be able to put a face to the country and to our traditions and see how another Jewish community functions,” said Williams, who is a teacher who has earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She teaches religious school at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, where she is also a member, and has been involved in the camp world for the past 15 years.

The second part of their mission, Williams said, is to enhance the campers experience through some varied and unique programming opportunities. One of those ways is through the new teva (nature) program.

“With nature, the kids get to experience the outdoors in a new way. Instead of just being in the outdoors and playing all the time, they get to examine their surroundings and also compare what we have here in Kansas with Israel. Of course Israel’s arid desert-like existence is very different than our climate here in Kansas. Food and nature is so much a part of their culture. For example during the summer we talk a lot about the shuk in Israel, where here we get our groceries from (a grocery store). So it’s important for our mission as a larger Jewish community to interact and to share our knowledge and our experiences with each other,” Williams said.

In fact, Williams said the shlichot will help the campers compare “our world here in the Midwest to theirs in Israel.”

“Our vision and what we tend to know and internalize in our generation is not necessarily how Israel is now. We want to update the campers’ vocabulary and the kids’ imagery of Yisrael,” Williams said.

In addition to the planned interactions with Kol Yisrael and teva, the shlichot will be out and about among the campers whenever they have a free moment, including some splashing time at the pool, as well as the weekly Shabbat celebration.

Riecher, a 22-year-old from Ein Vered, a moshav (cooperative agricultural community) located in central Israel, became a shlichah because she really wanted to see how Jewish people live in the United States as well as how they connect to their religion and how they feel about Israel.

Osher-Levinger, 21, is from Or Yehuda, a part of the Tel Aviv region, and also wanted to learn more about American Jews.

“I felt it was very important to see another Jewish community because it’s so different in Israel because it’s Israel. I want to show the world that Israel is not a bad place, that you can do whatever you want. It’s not like you see on TV, it’s so different,” Osher-Levinger said.

While they are here, Riecher said they would especially “like to hang out with the youth.”

Williams said the shlichot will not work the entire time they are here. On evenings and weekends, they hope to show the young women the highlights of the metro area.

“We’ll take them to the Plaza and Lawrence. They haven’t had a chance to explore our own Jewish community, but we hope to show them all the good works we do here in Kansas City also,” Williams said.

When they return to Israel, both Riecher and Osher-Levinger plan to study for their college entrance exams.

“The World Without You: A Novel” by Joshua Henkin (Pantheon, 2012)

Marilyn and David Frankel have lost Leo, their only son. He was a reporter in Iraq and a casualty of war. Together with their three daughters and their husbands and children, Leo’s wife and his son, they are together for a memorial service on the one-year anniversary of his death. The family is also breaking apart. Clarissa, the eldest, is desperately trying to have a child with no success. Lily, the middle daughter, is angry at the war, and disappointed that she is no longer Clarissa’s confidante. Noelle, the youngest daughter was the last one to see Leo alive. Always the most troubled child, Noelle surprised the family by immigrating to Israel, marrying a classmate of Lily’s, and becoming Orthodox.

During the course of the year, Marilyn has become unable to relate to David and plans to separate from him. This news, broadcast upon everyone’s arrival, throws all the family’s relationships into question. Old grudges are excavated; memories of Leo are burnished; negligible thoughtless acts and comments spark anger; small children hover on the outside of the simmering conflicts and are unable to figure out what is happening to their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. What the author has done is create a living family. All of these people are real, recognizable individuals, working through their anger and grief.

Joshua Henkin, who teaches creative writing at Brooklyn College, is the author of two highly-acclaimed previous novels: “Matrimony” and “Swimming Across the Hudson.” He has the knack of placing his characters into the contemporary political and social milieus of their time without allowing the politics to overwhelm the narrative, but to beautifully inform it. Readers will recognize the Frankel family as their neighbors and friends — non-practicing Jews with a strong sense of social justice, people who are continually re-examining their lives and relationships, their political commitments, and in the final analysis realizing that their relationships are strong and worth maintaining. Saying Kaddish for Leo at the unveiling is not the end of the Frankel family but the beginning of a new way of relating to each other. This beautifully-written novel will provoke discussion and self-examination among its readers.

Andrea Kempf is a retired librarian who speaks throughout the community on various topics related to books and reading.

KC SONG LEADERS — Several people with ties to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, got together at Hava Nashira, the song leaders’ workshop held annually at Olin Sang Ruby camp in Wisconsin. It’s a program for training song leaders, music teachers, rabbis, cantors and music specialists in leading Jewish music in camps, congregations, community centers and other types of Jewish programming and was founded in 1992 by the late Debbie Friedman, Cantor Jeff Klepper and Jerry Kaye, director of the Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute Camp in Oconomowoc, Wis. There were more than 250 participants this year including three participants and one faculty member who were all confirmed at B’nai Jehudah. Rabbi Larry Karol (confirmed 1970), who is now the rabbi of Temple Beth-El, Las Cruces, N.M., was on staff. Rachael Klein (confirmed 2007) is beginning studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem; Bess Wohlner (confirmed 2000) is a fourth-year rabbinical student at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles; and Rabbi Ken Chasen (confirmed 1981) is a rabbi at Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles.

SURPRISE! — Barney Mayse learned he has multiple sclerosis, a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, which has attacked his ability to walk, more than 20 years ago. For many years he has tirelessly raised funds — he estimates he has raised $50,000 over the past 11 years — to find a cure for the disease. Earlier this month Mayse was surprised when the Heartland Border Walk Foundation for MS, a K.C.-based foundation with all monies staying in K.C. to help people afflicted with MS, and United Access presented him with the gift of an accessible van and a power wheelchair. The van is equipped with a side ramp for him to get his wheelchair into the van, a swivel seat allowing easy transfer from the wheelchair to the driver’s seat and hand controls making it possible for him to drive the van. Mayse, who is a practicing Catholic, has been an active volunteer at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah assisting at many Purim carnivals and Mitzvah Days along with a variety of other projects with his daughter Samantha and wife, Carol Dale.

ASNER HERE THIS WEEKEND — If you don’t already know that Ed Asner will be in Kansas this weekend to be inducted in the Kansas Hall of Fame and to perform in a benefit Sunday night, June 14, for Friends of Sheffield, well … As a recap, Ed Asner Live! will feature Asner as FDR in a performance at the White Threatre (tickets are still available.) Proceeds from the event will go toward the restoration of the chapel, which has deteriorated to the extent it has been uninhabitable for the past 20 years, at the 111-year-old cemetery where many of us have loved ones buried. Friends of Sheffield Cemetery has raised $800,000 of its $1 million goal. For more information, contact Arlene Shalinsky, ticket sales chair, at 913-642-8588 or . Information is also available on the website http://sheffieldcemetery.org.

Sam Devinki’s photo will soon be displayed in a prominent spot on the wall at Kehilath Israel Synagogue. That’s because K.I.’s board of directors decided to recognize him for a lifetime of work on behalf of the congregation by bestowing upon him the title of honorary president for life. Two other men have also been given that honor by K.I. — the late Morten Brown and the late Sherman W. Dreiseszun.

The congregation will officially give Devinki the honorary title at Shabbat services on Saturday, June 9. A Kiddush hosted by the Devinki, Kolkin and Pack families will follow services.

K.I.’s Rabbi Herbert Mandl said Devinki developed his “feel” for Judaism and Kehilath Israel Synagogue from both his parents, the late Fred and Maria Devinki.

“He has inherited not only his parents’ business sense but also Maria’s big heart and sense of generosity,” Rabbi Mandl said. “This honor could not be bestowed on anyone more deserving than Sam for a lifetime of commitment and love to our synagogue.”

K.I. President Steve Osman said Devinki’s mantra is always what is best for the synagogue.

“Sam is big at leading by example. It is not personal honors he seeks when he donates money. Instead he is demonstrating to others that they should engage in tzedakah by showing them the path he has taken. If he is recognized for an achievement, he hopes that may prompt others to follow his lead,” Osman said.

Devinki said he is incredibly honored to have his name associated with both Brown and Dreiseszun.

“These two guys were icons. They are the guys that kept the synagogue alive in good times and bad over the last 70 years. To have my name considered in the same class as theirs is a big honor, it really is,” Devinki said.

Many would also say Devinki has done a lot to keep the synagogue going over the past 40 years while serving on the board and during two different terms as president — in 1985-86 and again in 2010.

“Whenever there has been a crisis or a need in the synagogue, Sam is there to solve the problem. Sam not only writes a check to fill in the gap when there is one, but he will work whatever project he is needed for at any time,” Rabbi Mandl pointed out in the congregation’s May newsletter.

Devinki’s roots

Devinki was born in Ragensberg, Germany, in a displaced persons camp. He and his parents moved to Kansas City in 1950 when he was 4 years old. As they settled into life in Kansas City, the Devinkis joined a local synagogue. But when Devinki was 5 and it was time for him to begin Hebrew school, his parents couldn’t quite afford all the costs associated with that religious education. That’s when K.I.’s Rabbi Maurice Solomon stepped in.

“He told them to come to K.I., and not to worry about what it costs. ‘You can pay what you can,’ he said. As they say, the rest of the story is history. That was in 1951,” Devinki said.

As time went on, Fred and Maria Devinki developed a very personal relationship with Rabbi Maurice and Betty Solomon.

“They were very close. Rabbi Solomon would come to our house to eat,” Devinki said.

Devinki said his parents were devoted to the synagogue, because they “felt like KI was there for them when they needed it.” His own devotion to K.I. is also very personal.

“K.I. was my second home. It was the only other place that I did anything. SYO (the youth group) was my social life. Hebrew school was my educational life other than regular school. Everything I did in life that wasn’t either business related or extended family related was related to K.I. My whole family went there and I had many friends there,” he explained.

Giving back to the community, in Devinki’s case to K.I., is a concept his parents encouraged him and his sisters — Karen Pack and Ida Kolkin — to do by setting a good example.

“They instilled in us tikkun olam, that you have to do for others. I have tried to follow that in my life and I find that every time that I do do something for somebody else, I really get paid back 10 fold. It sounds kind of corny but it’s true. I believe it,” he said.

A dedicated volunteer

The list of projects Devinki has initiated or been a part of at K.I. is extensive. But two hold a special place in his heart. The first is Grand Givers, a program he created in 1977.

“Though laughed at for the concept by many of the past presidents, this program has gone on to be the most successful fundraiser in the history of the synagogue,” Rabbi Mandl said.

Devinki came up with the Grand Givers concept because he literally felt the need for something grand. He noticed that previous fundraisers, such as a Las Vegas night, took a lot of time and effort to plan and execute, yet they only netted about $10,000.
His idea was to sell $100 raffle tickets. He proposed getting 10 people to commit to personally buying and/or selling 10 tickets each. If he was successful in that endeavor, $40,000 would be raised. The raffle winner would receive a brand new car. In 1977 it was a gold Cadillac Eldorado which, Devinki said, Roach Cadillac sold them for an incredible deal of $8,900.

Devinki said he first shared his Grand Givers idea with his mother.

“She told me I was nuts,” Devinki said.

He said he believed in the theory that if he got one guy to agree to it, then others would follow his lead.

“The first guy I went to was Abbott Sher,” Devinki said. “Once I had Abbott, I knew I could get Marty Brown, because they were best friends … it’s a domino effect.”

That very first year Devinki said Grand Givers earned a little more than its $40,000 goal. Anywhere from 300 to 600 people attend the event annually. Over the years it has been tweaked a little. For instance, they no longer give away a car because vehicles today are just too expensive.

“Now we give $10,000 cash as the grand prize,” Devinki said.

Grand Givers was Devinki’s idea, but he quickly credits others for their hard work on the project. For instance he said Dreiseszun became the fundraiser’s biggest supporter, always bringing in “$40,000 to $50,000 worth of tickets every year by himself.”

Always the salesperson, Devinki notes that this year’s Grand Givers is scheduled for Nov. 17 and will feature Rodeo Drive, “a wonderful couple from California who have beautiful voices.”

Over the past 36 years, Devinki estimates Grand Givers has raised, after expenses, more than $3.5 million.

“I think it’s the one thing I’ve done that’s done the most for the stabilization of the synagogue,” he said.

Devinki, who Rabbi Mandl said was the congregation’s youngest ever board member (he was 23 or 24 and still in law school) was also the congregation’s second youngest president. Dreiseszun was 37 years old when he became president. Devinki was 38.

About 15 years ago, Devinki also developed the concept of Tri-Chai, a program where members would contribute $5,400 a year, part of which would be over their normal dues.

“Every synagogue has dues levels and dues at our synagogue are based upon ability to pay, but there are some people who can pay more,” said Devinki, explaining how he came up with the concept.

Rabbi Mandl notes that, “an elite group of individuals has also helped sustain our financial stability.”

Devinki said at the time the concept was developed, it increased K.I.’s budget about 10 percent, “which is a substantial number.”

“Over the years the Tri-Chais haven’t increased as much as I would like but we still have 25 to 30 Tri-Chais in the congregation. I think that’s nice that these people are willing to voluntarily pay more than they are required to pay,” he said.

Even though Devinki is no longer president, he estimates he spends about two hours a day doing things for the synagogue. It’s something he still enjoys, and he appreciates the others who also give their time to the congregation.

“Running a synagogue is not an easy thing. That’s why all those people I’ve mentioned, and so many others, were incredibly devoted guys,” Devinki said. “It takes incredible devotion and I credit all these guys for the work that they’ve done over the years.”

Working for K.I. simply makes Devinki feel good.

“It makes me feel good about myself and that’s why it’s fun to do,” he said. “I love what they call the art of the deal, that’s a Donald Trump term, but I love seeing things develop and grow and come to fruition. When I work for the synagogue, I see things happen. I enjoy that.”

Breast cancer survivor and Grammy-winning artist Sheryl Crow is headlining a benefit for Back in the Swing at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 14, at the Johnson County Community College’s Yardley Hall. The musician, mother and Missouri native will perform select songs from her legendary career and share personal reflections from the heart. Merry and Ed Prostic and Sherry and Gary Forsee are serving as honorary chairmen of the event.

The non-profit Back in the Swing is dedicated to improving and protecting the health of breast cancer survivors through education and awareness. As another way to enhance the life of these survivors, and all women in general, Barbara Unell and Judith Fertig wrote “The Back in the Swing Cookbook: Recipes for Eating and Living Well Every Day After Breast Cancer” ($29.99, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2012). The book will be launched at this summer celebration.

Unell, who is a 14-year breast cancer survivor, describes the book as one that is life-affirming and full of 150 feel-good, easy-to-prepare recipes.

“As the woman’s guide to making delicious meals and embracing a positive lifestyle, ‘The Back in the Swing Cookbook’ will make mind, body and spirit feel energized and empowered,” she said. The book will be released nationwide on Aug. 7. A portion of the proceeds of the book will benefit Back in the Swing.

Recipes include Citrus Sesame Chicken Salad, Strawberry Agua Fresca, Mushroom and Broccoli Risotto, and Gingersnap-Crusted Pumpkin Pie. Each recipe also includes a complete nutritional analysis. Unell said in addition to fabulous food and drinks, the book’s beautiful pages include luscious photographs and “Recipes for Life” — tips on exercise, nature, meditation, relaxation, positive emotions, pets, friendships, and more — that set it apart from other cookbooks.

“But it’s more than a cookbook. It will basically share the essentials of what every breast cancer survivor, and every woman, really needs to know about how to take care of herself and be informed as a consumer of health care and also how to enjoy every day without that kind of fear that they should be doing this or they should be doing that because this information is right there in the book,” she continued.

As a lifestyle book, Unell said it promotes the message that it takes all women to raise their voices and ask for survivorship care. For the past 10 years, Back in the Swing has worked to create education and events with the mission of raising funds to start and benefit wellness programs, research and medical services for breast cancer survivors, as well as raise awareness about survivorship as a critical component of life after a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

“We also train other providers locally and around the country to deliver this care,” she added.

Unell said the book focuses on how each individual can ask for and receive the personalized, multi-disciplinary kind of care that providers now are expected to provide.

“I think both sides, the consumer and the professional, need to work together to make sure that the survivor can improve and protect her health,” she said.

The book, according to Unell, features more than 500 “fascinating pieces of research” on everything from prevention of primary breast cancer to preventing the occurrence of breast cancer. It also gives tips on bone health and heart health and others areas concerning women’s health.

“All the research that oftentimes gets miscommunicated to the consumer is all between the two covers of this book,” she said.

Unell said it takes powerful voices to share Back in the Swing’s powerful message, brought to the forefront by this book. That is one reason why Sheryl Crow was chosen to headline the event. Crow was brought on board by Rachel Beller, a member of Back in the Swing’s board of directors, a nutritionist (bellernutritionalinstitute.com) who wrote the forward to the book.

“Rachel has the combination of common sense and science in the way she looks at nutrition and empowering people to get the health care they need. She is based in Los Angeles and is a nutritionist to Sheryl Crow and works with other survivors in a breast center that Sheryl Crow helped to fund in California. So it is a very exciting partnership to bring together Rachel and Back in the Swing,” Unell said.

Unell said Crow represents someone who has discovered that she needs to have information to improve and protect her health just like everybody else does.

“Besides having a fabulous voice, Sheryl believes in what we are doing and understands what we are doing first hand. But also, I think, she will help us that evening by sharing some of her personal experiences,” Unell said.

Sheryl Crow Summer Celebration

A benefit evening for Back in the Swing® takes place at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 14, at Yardley Hall at Johnson County Community College.

Tier/Terrace/Balcony are available for $75 for an individual ticket, which includes a copy of the new book, “The Back in the Swing Cookbook,” or $50 for a ticket only.

Both ticket prices include a dessert reception, inspired by the new “Back in the Swing Cookbook,” after the performance, compliments of Dean & Deluca.

Grammy-winning artist Sheryl Crow will be performing select songs from her legendary career and sharing personal reflections from the heart.

Tickets can be purchased at the JCCC box office, which is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before curtain. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.jccc.edu or by calling 913-469-4445.

Sponsorships are also still available through Back in the Swing. Contact Bob Unell at 913-481-6364 for more information. Information about the event, and links to the ticket office, can also be found at backintheswing.org.

Vic Bergman is a very modest man, describing himself as “a working class kid from New York, (the) first college graduate of the family.” That “working class kid” recently was named Best Lawyer in the category of product liability for Greater Kansas City.

A practicing attorney since 1975, Bergman has been on the Best Lawyers list since 1987, but this is the first time he was named “Best of the Best” in his category.

“I do the broad range of personal injury cases, from trucking accidents to medical malpractice, so it was odd to get named just for product liability. In fact I have not done very much products work the past couple of years, but am really appreciative of the honor which I take as a recognition of a body of work,” said Bergman about his honor.

An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo (where he met his wife, Susan), Bergman received his Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1975. He was a member of all three of the law school’s honor societies: Order of the Coif, Law Review and Moot Court.

Immediately after graduation, he accepted a job with Schnider, Shamberg & May, Chtd., the predecessor of Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman, Chtd., where he was made a partner in three years.

“I consider myself very lucky,” Bergman added. “The firm was well established and hired me right out of law school. Even though I had no other offers, it was the job I wanted the most.” And he’s remained there, in the firm that gave him what he considered a “golden opportunity.” The firm’s area of practice — the representation of people who are catastrophically injured and families who have lost loved ones as the result of wrongdoing — is rewarding to Bergman in so many ways, and true to Bergman’s 1960s anti-establishment values. “I get to pick my clients, and go fight against the big boys, so I am pretty comfortable with the merits of my cases.”

Bergman, who worships at both BIAV and Torah Learning Center, said he’s grateful for all he’s learned from the firm’s partners.

“There’s an interesting story behind the founders of the firm,” he explained. “Founders Joseph Cohen, Charles Schnider and John Shamberg, all Jewish, were nationally recognized trial lawyers. In fact, Joe and Charlie were among the group of lawyers who started what became the American Trial Lawyers Association! The area of plaintiff’s personal injury practice, at the time, was dominated nationally by brilliant Jewish trial lawyers who had not been given jobs or opportunities by the then-established firms.”

Bergman added, “John Shamberg told me in his dramatic way that the establishment attorneys would not even walk on the same side of the street with plaintiffs lawyers. The representation of the injured, the widow and the orphan is so consistent with biblical Jewish values that it was a natural place for Jewish lawyers who were outsiders to gravitate with their great skills. Today, the decidedly Jewish domination has ended as the plaintiffs practice has a much broader appeal.”

Shamberg joined the firm in 1948 and helped bring it to new levels of sophistication and success. The firm was reorganized under the name of Schnider, Shamberg & May in the 1960s. According to the firm’s website (www.sjblaw.com): “This was during the golden age of the development of tort law. During this time Charlie Schnider and John Shamberg pioneered trial techniques and learned and taught with other master trial lawyers all over the country. They earned a reputation as a regional powerhouse plaintiff’s personal injury firm.”

Lynn Johnson joined the firm in 1970 and Bergman in 1975. Both were trained and mentored as trial lawyers by Schnider and Shamberg. John Parisi joined in 1989, and in 1995, the firm name changed to Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman.

Bergman described the founders of the firm as being “legal giants, dedicated to represent individuals and families who experienced catastrophic personal injury, economic loss or death. Despite often facing powerful companies or individuals, these attorneys battled on behalf of their clients, in courtrooms throughout Missouri and Kansas.”

It’s that tradition of representing people who feel small and powerless that has given the law firm — and Bergman — such a respected reputation among attorneys. According to the Best Lawyers website, “Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. For three decades, Best Lawyers® lists have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere. The 18th edition of The Best Lawyers In America (2012) includes 43,629 attorneys in 135 practice areas, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and … is based on more than 3.9 million evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.”

Bergman is most well known for handling personal injury “cases that involve severe injury or death. For more than 30 years, he has had a special interest in representing children and their families in obstetrical malpractice and other birth injury cases. In court he’s proven the connection between medical malpractice around the time of birth and cerebral palsy and death,” according to the firm’s website.

Some of his cases have set legal precedent. Again, from the firm’s website: Bergman was “a national figure in the legal fight for women who were injured, and for the families of those killed by Toxic Shock Syndrome. In court, he proved the correlation between Toxic Shock Syndrome and the use of highly absorbent tampons. Proctor & Gamble paid an undisclosed settlement to the victims and their families in these cases.”

Bergman’s other well-known cases include verdicts against Colt Industries Operating Corporation, where he “proved the design of the Colt Single Action Revolver, which goes back to 1873 — ‘The Gun That Won The West’ — was defective and unreasonably dangerous.”

And he represented Hall of Fame Sprint Car driver Doug Wolfgang against a racetrack and the sponsoring organization, for “failure to provide adequate fire and rescue services for drivers. The case had major implications for the industry.”

Partner Lynn Johnson, who also was named as “Best of the Best” in the field of medical malpractice this year, said of his partner and colleague, “Vic and I have been together as partners for nearly 37 years and I consider him to be a great and fast friend and one of the very best trial attorneys in the country.”

He added, “We are both very proud of our law firm and our law firm’s founders’ history, tradition and steadfast reputation for representing every client with respect, dignity and our very best effort regardless of the value of the client’s case. Vic’s tenacity, skill, determination, work ethic and respect for every client makes him, in my opinion, a very special person and trial attorney! I am proud to be his partner and look forward to many more years of practicing together in our firm.”

Bergman, who is a member of the Bar in both Missouri and Kansas, is a member of both states’ Trial Lawyers Association as well as the American Trial Lawyers Association, (now known as the American Association for Justice). He was inducted in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1998, limited to the top 1 percent of trial lawyers nationwide. He also is a charter member and past president of the Kansas (Earl E. O’Connor) Inn of Court and was elected five times to the Tenth Judicial District Nominating Commission.

Just as King Herod commissioned the Western Wall as part of a Temple renovation in 37 BCE, the Child Development Center at the Jewish Community Center now has a commemorative wall of its own, enriching its first expansion in more than 20 years.

A stunning representation of the Western Wall was just completed, and will appear alongside school upgrades that will boost student capacity from 175 to 225, a leap of nearly 30 percent. To further connect children and families to this international treasure, CDC parents were recently invited to become a Friend of the Kotel for $360. This contribution allows for names of family members to be designated on individual stone plaquettes above the wall.

Complementing the CDC’s educational mission, the wall replica measures more than 6 feet tall by 15 feet wide. Envisioned by a team led by CDC Director Maxine Benson, the project has been greeted with excitement and anticipation by CDC students and faculty.

“The Kotel in the CDC has long been a dream,” Benson said. “With all of the other exciting changes, this is the perfect time to turn the dream into reality. It’s the inspiration for a new Judaic curriculum that includes the learning areas of social studies, science, math, literature, music and art, and will add another level of excellence to the CDC early childhood experience.”

Teacher Linda Rubin said the wall can take the children back in time.

“It will be a wonderful follow-up to the discussions we have about Israel. We can use our senses to see and feel the wall and pretend that we are in Jerusalem while smelling and tasting Israeli foods. How wonderful for our children to be able to imagine what it is like to be in front of the Kotel in Jerusalem,” Rubin said.

To insure the replica wall’s authenticity, the CDC turned construction over to local resident and Israeli native Sam Nachum.

Together with his son, Ben, Sam has imported and installed Jerusalem Stone from Israel at residential and commercial projects since 1995.

The CDC’s wall originated as white stone from Hebron. From that supply 55 individual stones were crafted, many nearly 18 feet by 18 feet and weighing about 40 pounds.

According to Ben Nachum, the craftsmen at Jerusalem Stone chose a specific section from the actual Kotel, and then used old-world techniques including chiseling and sandblasting to duplicate the original’s unique contours and textures. Each stone is expertly fitted together — and like the original wall — provides crevices in which to insert handwritten notes.

Adhering to such traditions will only enhance the learning experiences planned for the children.

“The beauty of the Jerusalem stone is a joy to the eyes. The Kotel will become an integral part of our holiday celebrations and the backdrop for Shabbat and Havdallah,” Benson said.

The addition of the wall adds a new educational dimension to the CDC.

“The wall will not only enhance our Judaic curriculum, but will be an effective tool to teach concepts of shape, size and other math concepts. The children can replicate the wall using a variety of materials,” noted teachers Julie Gregory and Tanya Hadzhieva.

CDC students are already enjoying its presence at the facility.

“It is important for people to pray to God for peace, love and family,” said 5-year-old Noah Bergh, a recent CDC “graduate.”

Anyone can become a Friend of the Kotel and designate a stone plaquette for $360. Alumni and others whose families have benefited from a CDC education or relationship are especially encouraged to be a part of this permanent landmark, said Jacob Schreiber, JCC executive director. Pictures and progress of the Kotel project can be viewed at facebook.com/JCCChildDevelopmentCenter.

CDC enhancements are scheduled for completion in time for the next school year in August and will help alleviate the annual enrollment waiting list. For more information, go to jcckc.org, click on the Youth and Family tab, and then click on Child Development Center.

Sid Shachnow isn’t your average retiree. The Army major general, who led the Green Berets for 32 years, is also a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania more than 60 years ago.

Shachnow will be at the Kansas City Public Library’s Central branch at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, to talk about his memoir, “Hope and Honor.”

“I never talked about my early life experiences, which is about normal. A lot of people who had a traumatic event in their life don’t want to talk about it,” he said.

After dealing with heart problems and cancer, Shachnow decided to write down his experiences with the encouragement of his family.

“At first I wrote about 100 pages. We were going to take it to Staples or Kinkos to reproduce for the family. (Then) a lady named Jann Robbins, who knew the outline of the story, thought it would make a good book,” Shachnow said.

The book follows his life, from the concentration camp in Kovno, Lithuania, at age 7 to his immigration and assimilation into American society. He was reunited with his mother, father and brother after a journey across post-war Europe on his own at age 10.

“(Assimilating) was a challenge for me. I had never been to school — I couldn’t read, couldn’t write,” he said.

At 21, he met his future wife, Arlene, who was four years younger and Catholic. Later, the story segues to his military career.
His outlook on the life story he presents in the book is this: “Perseverance and tenacity are very important in life. Regardless of how bleak things are, if you work hard and are committed, things will work out for you,” he said.

Shachnow will be in Kansas City for programming at the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The college has been developing programming with the Kansas City Public Library for several years, and this relationship led to Shachnow’s upcoming talk about his book.

“The college foundation called us and thought that Maj. Gen. Shachnow would resonate with a heartland audience,” said Henry Fortunato, director of public affairs for the library. “We treat the library and our speaker series as a people’s university, and our aim is to provide a continuing dialogue and engagement through the forum of authors talking about their books and life experiences. It’s always valuable to hear about  ... people who aren’t necessarily well-known.”

Although Shachnow now talks about his book and its stories with some ease, initially writing down the details was sometimes a struggle for him.

“When we spoke in generalities, I had no problem. It’s when we went into specifics I had difficulty,” he said. “I wanted to cancel the project on several occasions.”

He likened the process of recording his memories to picking a scab of a healing wound.

“I think every story that’s in there is something I’m willing to stand by. There were things I revealed — I wondered if it was anybody’s business… You sometimes go in life from day to day, (and) you don’t look on it very philosophically,” he said. “I found myself questioning what kind of person I was when I was in uniform.”

“What training is all about in the military is for you to shed your inhibitions about killing because you grew up most of your life being told that taking someone’s life is wrong. When you put the uniform on, they tell you, ‘There are some exceptions … as a matter of fact we’re going to give you a medal and call you a hero,’ but at some point, I had some serious questions about that.”

To attend Shachnow’s talk, call the library to reserve a seat at 816-701-3407, or go to www.kclibrary.org and select “events.”