VAAD’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LEAVING — The Kansas City Jewish community is losing one of its 18 Under 40 when Rabbi Mendel Segal, executive director and rabbinic coordinator of The Vaad HaKashruth of Kansas City, moves to Florida with his family at the end of June. Following Rabbi Segal’s announcement late last week, Vaad President Jeff Goldenberg said the kosher authority’s board was just beginning to determine how they will handle the search for a new director.
Last week Kehilath Israel Senior Rabbi Jeffrey Shron announced to synagogue members that he and his wife Hedy plan to make Aliyah to Israel after the High Holy Days in the fall. One of the Shrons’ three children, daughter Carla, lives in Israel with her husband, Elie, and four children.
Former President Barack Obama’s administration did some good things for Israel despite the two governments’ disputes, and Israelis are hopeful that relations between the United States and Israel will improve under President Donald Trump’s administration, Consul General of Israel to the Southwest Eitan Levon said this week.
Join others from a variety of faiths this month at an event aimed getting to know neighbors in the community.
KANSAS, MISSOURI SENATORS SIGN LETTEr URGING ACTION ON THREATS TO JEWISH INSTITUTIONS (WASHINGTON: JTA) — The U.S. Senate unanimously joined in urging the Trump administration to take action to stem the wave of threats against Jewish Community Centers and other institutions, saying their viability had been made vulnerable by the harassment. Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts and Missouri Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill signed the letter.
Details are now in place for how the community can help area refugees through a special effort by Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) and Jewish Family Services (JFS).
DOCUMENTARY TO AIR ON KCPT — “Fast Break: The Legendary John McLendon,” a new documentary film based on a book by Milton S. Katz, Ph.D., is set to air at 8:30 p.m. March 13, 16 and 18 on KCPT. The film, created by University of Kansas alumni and directed by KU film and media studies professor Kevin Willmott, highlights the little-known coach who’s also credited with introducing now-ubiquitous basketball plays.
When The New Reform Temple celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1992, Paul Uhlmann Jr., the congregation’s first president (who passed away in 2016), said that despite initial dire predictions of an early demise, “we find ourselves flourishing — dedicated to a philosophy that is not for everybody, but is designed for those to whom the meaning of Reform Judaism is important.”
Next week, on March 11, the Bloch Galleries of European Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will be open to the public.
Every February the American Jewish community marks Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month and is an opportunity to celebrate the community’s commitment to removing barriers, celebrating diversity and connecting with Jewish values.
