For 25 years, the Jewish Community Campus has been the place where thousands of people gather, learn and play every day. There’s been one individual who’s been at the center of it all since the beginning — Alan Bram.

The Campus opened its doors in October 1988, and it is Bram who has kept things running as the institution’s first and only executive director. Now, after a quarter of a century of service, Bram is retiring in September.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Bram, in his typical short, to the point manner.

Bram first came to Kansas City in 1987 to help get systems in place before the actual Campus opening. Bram had been serving as the executive director of the Tulsa Jewish Community Center. The Kansas City position appealed to Bram because all the Jewish agencies would be under one roof.

“I liked the concept of cooperation — of doing things together,” Bram said. “It hit me as the way to do things.”

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Bram spent considerable time in the JCC arena working in his home state as well as Richmond, Va. The Kansas City job allowed Bram to use all of his professional skills that he’s sharpened over the course of his career.

From day one, Bram got busy establishing policies and systems to operate the 267,080-square-foot building. He’s been responsible for the total operation of the building that includes all staffing, housekeeping and maintenance issues. It’s no easy task to run a diverse structure that includes a full-service fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, a preschool and day school as well as a theater and meeting rooms.

Bram said people don’t often realize all the intricate systems that are part of operating a building like the Campus. There’s heating and cooling systems, lighting and mechanical items and areas for food service — all have fallen under his realm. Bram does this with a small staff of nine dedicated employees.

“I don’t have many on staff,” Bram said. “We operate the building from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. at night. It’s challenging.”

If it snows, it’s Bram’s responsibility to see that the snow and ice are cleared so parents can safely bring their children to school and folks can get to the gym or offices at the Campus. When the elevator gets stuck, Bram and his team work to get it working again. If toilets are overflowing, again it falls to Bram’s crew to clean up the mess and keep the building in tip-top shape.

As the executive director, Bram has worked closely with a board of directors. Former board President Irwin Blitt — who co-chaired the Campus Building Committee — was part of the process that brought Bram to Kansas City.

“He’s been a super management person,” Blitt said. “The building looks great and it’s thanks to him. … We’ve been lucky to have him.”

Past Campus president and board member Frank Lipsman has also worked with Bram.

“I have great respect for the professionalism and dedication that Alan brought to his role as executive director of the Campus. He truly treated that Campus as if it were his ‘home,’ ” Lipsman said.

Lipsman recalled how Bram made a point to attend at least one board meeting of every Campus tenant to explain the role he played and how he could assist them.

“Alan is innovative,” Lipsman said. “He worked tirelessly with the Overland Park Police Department to assure that Campus has state of the art security cameras and computerized surveillance.”

Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said Bram has been thorough and cooperative.

“Notwithstanding that he can be a little eccentric, Alan has always had the best interest of the people at the Jewish Community Campus and the community at heart,” the chief said.

Past Campus president and board member Scott Slabotsky has worked side by side with Bram since the building opened.

“His ownership and tireless efforts have been instrumental in maintaining this jewel of the Jewish community in Kansas City,” Slabotsky said. “Without his dedication since the Campus was built, we would not have had the benefit of enjoying a first-class facility for so many years.”

Over the years, Slabotsky said it wasn’t unusual to see Bram carrying a screwdriver, wrench or plunger at any hour of the day as he made his rounds of the building. Bram’s constant companions are his walkie-talkie and pager, so he’s always connected putting out one crisis before moving on to another.

“One side of Alan that I saw that many others did not was the pride he had when the people were in the pool, using the gym, filing into classrooms and coming out of the theater, knowing that he was personally responsible for their wellbeing and safety,” Slabotsky said.

The search is under way for a new campus executive director, but Blitt said Bram’s shoes will be hard to fill.

“It’ll be tough on the next person,” Blitt said.

Over the years The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah’s Preschool has established a reputation of being a “very loving, boutique-style preschool.” As the school nears its 45th anniversary, the Reform congregation’s board of trustees recently made a commitment to support the preschool and early childhood programming and hopes to grow its enrollment.

“It has a legacy of just such loving care, rich with Jewish values and Jewish teachings,” explained Sue Boxer, the school’s new director.

This year the school was led by Interim Director Laurie Greenfield, who reports 29 children are currently enrolled in the school. The preschool wing can hold more than twice that many students — 60 in the locked area and another 14 in an additional licensed room.

The first step to growing the school, according to Greenfield, was hiring a director who would commit to leading the school for the long term.

“We need to let people know that the commitment is there and the preschool is here to stay,” said Greenfield, noting that the congregation did just that when Boxer came on board April 1.

“A national search was done and Sue was what we discovered was our jewel. So we’re thrilled to have a woman of her caliber and her expertise with such a deep, deep background in synagogue-based early childhood programming here at B’nai Jehudah,” Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner said.

The board decided to make this commitment to the preschool, according to Board President Andrew Kaplan, after it commissioned a task force, chaired by Beth Liss, to study the issue.

“After much debate and thoughtful consideration, the board nearly unanimously passed a motion to commit to resources necessary to continue and grow our school into a program that will further develop a sense of Jewish community with the congregation as well as the general community,” he wrote in the congregation’s January Bulletin. “We clearly recognized the talent and passion of our teachers, the educational opportunities our children are receiving and the opportunity we have to grow a program that will be recognized and appreciated in the community.”

The task of growing the preschool’s enrollment won’t be easy. Rabbi Shuval-Weiner, who along with Greenfield helped lead the search committee that ultimately hired Boxer, said Jewish preschools in general are facing challenges they didn’t face 20 years ago. One such challenge for synagogue-based preschools is that the number of affiliated families — often the base of the student population — is shrinking radically.

Another challenge for synagogue-based preschools according to Rabbi Shuval-Weiner is the intermarriage rate “is also a bigger factor than ever.” In the not so distant past a synagogue-based program was “the first and foremost” place a young couple would have considered for their child’s early education. Now, she said, such a preschool is just one of the many options parents may choose from.

So one of the challenges Boxer will face as she begins to guide the preschool, Rabbi Shuval-Weiner said, is to determine “how we make ourselves relevant to a young couple who has many, many options for their young children.”

“Our children are our most treasured possessions and we want the best for them. So it is important for B’nai Jehudah to make ourselves relevant to them as an early childhood learning place, to make ourselves relevant as a place of values that are inherently important to parents,” Rabbi Shuval-Weiner said.

Boxer has a wealth of experience directing Jewish preschools, having directed such programs for the past 30 years. One of the things she has learned during that time is that it’s often the first set of doors that people walk into — the one parents choose as their children’s Jewish early education home — which in turn becomes the entire family’s Jewish home.

“We hope as Sue becomes known in the community as an expert in early childhood education, she will open her arms and our doors to people who are outside of B’nai Jehudah and they will consider us as an option for their youngest little ones,” Rabbi Shuval-Weiner said.

The rabbi said one appeal to parents, especially interfaith ones, is that B’nai Jehudah is the only Reform congregation in the area with an early childhood program.

“That may be a safer option for a lot of interfaith families,” than other synagogue-based programs, she said.

The future

Boxer is already beginning to implement programs that have been successful in her previous position. She believes parent education is a very important component of a successful preschool.

“We often think of preschool as just the place to educate the child, and the model I have always felt is really important is that parenting is a journey we come into without a handbook. The need for that support system in that journey is something parents are very aware of,” Boxer said.

Boxer has already organized one parent program at B’nai Jehudah in which she shared some of her philosophy with participants through favorite quotes from Wendy Mogel, Ph.D., the author of “The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children.”

“For me Judaism provides a legacy of teaching and ritual that has proven to be both profound and practical. You and your family may choose a different path than that of your forebears, but if you don’t want to get caught up in the anxiety, materialism and competition all around us, you must choose some path to walk on with your children. You must name it, follow it, and plan the curriculum for their spiritual education as thoughtfully and intelligently as you plan their academic education.”

While the preschool’s director has changed, it will retain the boutique-style it has become associated with. This is one reason why the school will never be as large as some other Jewish preschools in the area.

“This is a school for people who choose to have their child in a home-like atmosphere and not in a day care environment,” Boxer said.

The school is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those limited hours, Boxer said, make it an unlikely choice for families where both parents work outside of the home full-time. Greenfield pointed out, however, that there are two-working parent families who have found ways to make this environment work for their children. Both Greenfield and Boxer said parents enjoy the school’s homelike atmosphere.

“Parents love that there’s a place that is not so big and overwhelming,” Boxer said.

She explained part of the attraction to a boutique-model preschool is that it becomes like a family.

“It’s a slightly larger, expanded family with shared values who share a commitment to making sure the children are safe and growing emotionally and cognitively,” Boxer said.

“Historically we’ve been known as this very sweet, loving type school. We don’t want to lose that,” Rabbi Shuval-Weiner added.

Boxer said the school has had “a really incredible team of teachers and committed parents and we want to certainly continue that legacy.”

No one expects the school to fill to capacity overnight.

“Certainly our goal next year is to bring in some more people and then to build on our success,” Boxer said. “The next year will be a step in that direction.”

Boxer also hopes to build the preschool’s summer camp as well. Space is still available for this summer’s session for 2- and 3-year-olds.

Rabbi Shuval-Weiner is excited for what the future brings to the preschool.

“We’re super excited for what the future holds for our program as well as well as for early childhood opportunities in the community at large. We have a lot, we believe, we can offer, we have offered in the past and hope to be able to offer again in the future.”

What is Jewish leadership? How does a community inspire its members to become strong leaders? These are questions that Erica Brown, Ph.D. has been helping communities deal with for years. The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City is bringing her to the area May 8-9 to help guide the community in the area of leadership.

The scholar in residence at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Dr. Brown consults with many Jewish non-profits to help their leaders evolve. She became interested in Jewish leadership issues while working in her first job at the Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston.

“I was struck by how many leadership programs we have in the Federation system but how few genuinely focus on leadership development, in terms of helping people with basic leadership skills like public speaking and running meetings but also larger conceptual issues like change and transformation,” she said.

The topic of transformation is an issue Dr. Brown will focus on as the keynote speaker at Women’s Philanthropy’s annual meeting, scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. May 8 at the Jewish Community Campus. Dr. Brown’s topic will be “From Inspiration to Transformation.” Transformations is an important topic to Women’s Philanthropy, which recently changed its name from Women’s Division to more closely align with the other Jewish Federations across the nation.

Dr. Brown says as she discusses transformation, she will “address issues of change and resistance and how people can be genuinely inspired to change and reinvigorate Federation to help it catch up to trends in philanthropy without losing its essential mission: to build community through tzedakah.”

“I also want to address how we can nurture women’s leadership in a classically male-dominated system,” she continued.

The author of many books including “Inspired Jewish Leadership: Practical Approaches to Building Strong Communities,” Dr. Brown said that Jewish leadership is not really different from any other kind of leadership.

“I think it is merely inspired from a different place,” she said.

“When you inherit a tradition that is over 4,000 years old, you realize that you are part of something horizontal, that touches those around you, and vertical, that you inherit from the past and give to the future. You have to take very good care to pass it on from generation to generation because our very existence is a miracle. Our leaders, in that sense, need to be miracle makers, or at very least, those who can inspire others to be part of this long tradition.”

As the discussion leader at an interactive breakfast workshop on May 9, when she speaks about “Innovation and Change: The Key to Our Future,” Dr. Brown will focus on this need to inspire others. She will talk about “innovation and whether or not we are truly ready to do things differently.”

“I am not a lecturer in the classic sense. Everything I do in teaching is interactive. I want to stimulate a robust conversation about innovation,” she continued.

“Leadership takes inner work,” she explained. “It is not about hearing a consultant entertain you. It is about strategic thinking, vision, taking people out of their comfort zone to go somewhere they were not previously prepared to go. This involves risk. Well-established systems are often averse to risk. I don’t think we need to change everything but we do need to create more fertile ground to discuss change.”

Dr. Brown believes it is important to have our young people become good leaders. She said we need to “teach children at an early age to become comfortable writing and addressing others publicly and help mentor them and seek out positions for them in our community to grow their leadership.”

“As the saying goes: what we pay attention to grows. We have to find ways to grow young people,” she said.

An important part of her message is to allow people to be leaders. She also pointed out that is extremely important in the Jewish community if we do not want to lose leaders. In her book about Jewish leadership, she writes of young Jewish professionals who leave the Jewish non-profits to work at other organizations.

“If we want a truly professional staff, we have to treat them as the professionals they are,” Dr. Brown said.

“We have people in the Jewish non-profit world today who are more educated and better qualified to do their jobs than at any point in Jewish history. At the same time, we dis-empower them by not allowing them to determine directions and use their skills and background to enhance our community. It irks me to see a boardroom where professionals sit behind board members and not at the table. The lay/professional relationship has to be seriously rethought and reconstructed to maintain the dignity of both sides.”

Dr. Brown’s focus on leadership is ongoing because she wants the Jewish community to continue to thrive. She is concerned about how the Jewish community is losing leaders and donors. But she sees this as a chance for change to make it better.

“Our federation system has as a whole lost half the number of its donors in the past decades,” she said. “Anyone seeing the big picture understands that hundred-year-old organizations cannot do business as usual to have influence and impact. That is a frightening proposition but we also have to see it as a thrilling opportunity.”

For more information about these programs, call the Federation at 913-327-8100.

It hardly seems like 20 years for Lauren Aaronson, when she looks back at the project she helped spearhead at Congregation Beth Torah. But two decades of Sundays have gone by as congregation members have provided Sunday dinners for the residents of SAVE Home.

SAVE Home, part of SAVE, Inc., is an eight-bed facility that began as a hospice for local people with HIV and AIDS who were being turned away from other facilities. Advances in medicine have made the place more of a transitional housing stop than the real end of the line.

“(The 1990s) was a time when they were being evicted from their apartments and losing jobs because of their diagnosis,” said Aaronson, who has served on SAVE Home’s board twice and finished a term as president of the board in December.

The clients of SAVE, Inc., now include people with other problems, such as mental disabilities and substance abuse issues.

Aaronson got involved in 1992 when she was chairing Beth Torah’s social justice committee. The committee was looking for a way to help people with AIDS and canvassed the local organizations and charities who had related programs.

According to Aaronson, the committee was looking for an opportunity to help that was “beyond writing a check.”

SAVE Home organizers mentioned that people brought dinners to the facility on different nights. Because it’s often difficult for people who work all day to have dinner ready to take somewhere at 5 p.m., the committee asked if Sunday night was taken.

“They said, ‘Nobody brings anything on Sunday nights — isn’t that church night?’ And we said, ‘Not for us,’ ” Aaronson said.

She brought the first dinner, with another congregant, on May 9, 1993, and has remained the project coordinator ever since.

Every few months, she sends around emails with the available dates and asks members of the congregation to sign up. What makes it an appealing volunteer opportunity, Aaronson said, is that people don’t have to commit to a regular slot.

“People can do this once a year or once a month,” she said. “I think that’s what keeps it going — it’s not a major commitment for anyone. People don’t burn out on it.”

Volunteers bring a meal to feed the eight residents and the staff member on duty, and Aaronson encourages the volunteers to stay and eat with the residents if they can.

It’s not always possible, especially since the residents have compromised immune systems. If Aaronson has a cold, she just drops off the food and doesn’t stay, so she won’t risk getting the residents sick.

Over the years, there have been a few times when someone’s forgotten or when a Jewish holiday falls on that night, but Aaronson tries to give SAVE Home advance notice when she can.

“It’s a labor of love. When the AIDS epidemic came to public knowledge, it touched my heart,” Aaronson said. “I was really committed to try and do something, and it resonated with others in the congregation.”

Although she does have friends who have been affected by HIV and AIDS, she said her drive to help came before she knew of those situations. As a research nurse and a professor at the University of Kansas School of Nursing, she had an inside view of the situation from the medical community and understood the hardships people with the disease were facing.

“I knew at the time, if I was working clinically, I would be volunteering to work on a unit (dealing with HIV and AIDS). I could not tolerate the rejections people were experiencing,” she said.

Some cases of the time stuck with Aaronson, like that of Ryan White, a child with hemophilia who developed the disease from a blood transfusion and was shunned by his school community in Indiana.

It bothered her to see how even some medical professionals didn’t want to be around people with the disease because of the pervasive fear surrounding HIV and AIDS.

“That’s just the kind of thing that pushes my buttons,” Aaronson said. “I wanted to be able to be there and help others who are dealing with a very unfair situation.”

One of the reasons she encourages families who volunteer to stay and eat is to provide some normal dinnertime conversation for the residents and help them feel like part of the community.

“The stigma associated with HIV and AIDS is not what it was, and sometimes those of us who are well immersed in the (medical) community aren’t sensitive to the fact that the stigma is still there for many people,” Aaronson said. “I hope, in some respect, (this project) can serve as a way to educate more people.”

“In response to the requests we have had to help the victims of the Boston bombing, we are working in sync with Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Greater Boston’s Jewish Federation, to provide people with a Jewish response to helping victims and their families recover from this traumatic event,” said Gail Weinberg, director of financial resource development for the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.

Weinberg explained the CJP established the CJP Boston Relief Fund to serve as a central place where people can make donations in the aftermath of the horrific events that took place Monday, April 15, at the Boston Marathon’s finish line. She said 100 percent of collected funds will be donated directly to the One Fund Boston, Inc., created by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino, to help the victims of this tragedy and their families. The CJP Boston Relief Fund will ensure that the money reaches those who need it most.

“With commitment and hope for the future, the CJP Boston Relief Fund will ensure that the money reaches those who need it most,” said Barry Shrage, CJP president.

To make a donation, visit www.cjp.org/bostonrelief, or call CJP at 617-457-8500.

Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s mission is to sustain and enhance Jewish life at home and around the world. In the past, Jewish Federations came together to raise $250,000 to help tornado victims in Joplin, Mo., and more than $1 million to help victims of the Japanese earthquake.

In addition to emergency campaigns to help victims of catastrophic events, Jewish Federation supports more than 75 programs and services that affect the lives of many in Kansas City. For more information about this and other projects, go to jewishkansascity.org.

LESSONS LEARNED — Every single time I pick up Bob Cutler’s new book, “25 Lessons in 25 Years,” I think I’ve ruined it because there’s a coffee cup ring stain on the back of the book jacket. That’s just one of the cute little things Cutler put in his book, written to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his company, Creative Consumer Concepts, better known today simply as C3. I totally agree with the comment about the book found in Cutler’s bio on the book jacket, “The thoughts are simple, straight forward, and at times, quirky just like Bob. Yet the simplicity of these time-tested truths is always relevant.” It takes about 15 minutes to read the book cover to cover — I know because I’ve read it twice now and I laughed and chuckled both times. I don’t want to spoil it too much for those of you who haven’t read it, but I particularly loved lesson eight, “It’s not if. It’s when. Things are going to happen that are out of your control. So, it’s not really a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Be prepared that unexpected stuff will come your way. Because it does.” That is so true, especially in the newspaper business! He acknowledges that he borrowed two of the lessons from other members of the Jewish community — Irv Robinson and Trish Uhlmann. As a bonus he includes a list of C3 traditions, where I learned that employees of C3 get to bring their dogs to work (sometimes), have a roving candy bowl filled with chocolate and breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially if a new employee is being welcomed to the staff. Sounds fun to work in that office. Cutler said he wrote the book as a gift for friends and colleagues, so the hard cover version can be a bit expensive. The good news is you can get an e-version of it for free! Visit 25lessonsin25years.com for more info.

GOOD LUCK NAJAHE — A few months after Najahe Sherman joined KSHB TV three years ago as an anchor/reporter, our Jewish Life Magazine featured her on the cover. Now we bid her goodbye and good luck as she begins another chapter in her career as an anchor/reporter at New 2 in Nashville, Tenn. While she was in the area she emceed a variety of events, including a cooking contest at the Jewish Arts Festival. She and her husband, Micah Charyn, were active members of the local Jewish community. Shalom Najahe, we will miss your sunny attitude on the news!

JFS ON KCPT — Last month KCPT’s “The Local Show” produced a story about eating disorders and interviewed Mary Beth Blackwell, director of the Eating Disorder Resource Center at Jewish Family Services. The show aired on March 27 and highlights can be seen on KCPT’s website. The link is http://kcpt.org/blog/2013/03/27/the-deadliest-mental-illness-eating-disorders/.

It was April 1974. Waiters scurried about the ballroom of the Muehlebach Hotel in downtown Kansas City, Mo., and organizers stressed over final details. The Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy was founded just eight years before, and this, the night of the first Civic Service Awards Dinner, was to be the school’s boom or bust fundraising event. The fledgling Jewish day school was attempting something fairly revolutionary — organizing a dinner that would attract hundreds of prospective HBHA supporters. As Richard Berkley, then the mayor of Kansas City, Mo., took the stage and accepted his honor, more than 500 guests stood up and applauded. At that moment, the extraordinary tradition that is the Civic Service Award Dinner had begun.

Blanche Sosland, an HBHA founder and attendee at that first dinner, said, “The idea for the dinner came from a Jewish day school in New Jersey. HBHA was the first school in the area to execute such an event, and other schools soon saw the success of our dinner and organized their own dinner fundraisers. It was important to have an influential honoree like Mayor Berkley, because it attracted a lot of guests and generated interest in the school’s activities. We began to use the Civic Service Award Dinner to educate the community as to what the day school is about — obtaining a stellar secular and Jewish education, and instilling a sense of pride of Judaism in its students.”

Carl Puritz, an HBHA founder and 2003 honoree, said, “My uncle Hyman Brand and I were ecstatic to get 500 people to come and pay $50 per plate for the first dinner in 1974. We had no idea that the dinner would grow to over 1,000 people in the following years, due to our honoring of prominent people in the Kansas City community, such as attorney Arthur Magg (honored in 1975), attorney Ed Smith (honored in 1986) and conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern (honored in 2007), just to name a few. Eventually, donors generously began giving contributions in order to sponsor tables at the dinner, and HBHA developed a strong network of supporters, both Jewish and non-Jewish, in large part due to the success of the Civic Service Award Dinner.”

Forty years later the dinner is still around and has grown to become a thriving and integral part of HBHA’s fundraising and student recruitment campaigns. The dinner is also important because it recognizes outstanding leaders who give back to their community.

This year, Civic Service Award Dinner co-chairman, 2010 honoree and president of the Hebrew Academy Foundation Howard Jacobson said the award will be presented to Joyce and Stan Zeldin. Jacobson is chairing this year’s event with Jane Sosland.

“These two individuals have served leadership roles spanning many facets of the Jewish community, from the Jewish Community Center, to HBHA, to synagogue life, and are very deserving of this honor,” Jacobson said.

The honorees recognized over the 40 years of the dinner feature community leaders from all backgrounds, including politics, business, sports and the Jewish community. Politicians who have been honored include congressman and former Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Emanuel Cleaver, along with his wife Dianne, as well as Kansas City’s current Mayor Sly James, who was honored just last year. From the business world, leaders such as Henry W. Bloch of H&R Block, honored in 1980, and Donald J. Hall of Hallmark Cards, honored in 1976, boosted the prestige of the dinner. The former owner of the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Wizards franchises, Lamar Hunt, was honored in 1997, and Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame third-baseman George Brett was honored in 2000.

Though these names certainly drew large crowds to the annual HBHA event, the many Jewish community leaders who also received the honor are no less important. People like Maria and Fred Devinki, the 2011 honorees, and families like them, helped HBHA blossom into the respected school that it is today.

The 2013 Civic Service Award Dinner will honor not only the Zeldins, but also Rabbi Morris B. Margolies, of blessed memory, by dedicating the Program Book to his memory. Rabbi Margolies was intimately involved in obtaining the initial funding for the school, joining forces with Blanche and Neil Sosland, Puritz and Joanie Greenberg, Joan and Walter (of blessed memory) March, Beryl and Richard Silberg, Milton and Bea Firestone (both of blessed memory), and Sidney and Carol Deutch.

HBHA junior Jacob Margolies, the grandson of Rabbi Margolies, said, “It means a lot to know that my grandfather will be honored in such a special way at the Civic Service Award Dinner because he ardently believed that a Jewish day school was absolutely necessary to foster a wholesome and strong Jewish community. My grandfather was a part of a group of founders who overcame many obstacles in order to make HBHA a success, and as the Civic Service Award Dinner’s purpose is to promote HBHA, it is fitting that he is being honored for a cause he worked so hard for.”

The Civic Service Award Dinner will also feature an auction, musical performances by HBHA students, a video depicting a day in the life of HBHA, and brief remarks from Head of School Howard Haas.

Haas said, “This is my seventh year experiencing the Civic Service Award Dinner, and it is really a rewarding event. To have many of our students, faculty, board members and sponsors in attendance is really a wonderful thing each year. The dinner is a great opportunity to showcase the accomplishments and incredible strides that HBHA students make. Our school is special in that the high schoolers are friends and role models to the younger students, and we have such a family atmosphere that we know is evident in the video played that evening. We are proud to be the fourth oldest kindergarten through 12th-grade community Jewish day school in the country, and the Civic Service Award Dinner is our chance to shine as a school, and to encourage fundraising and attract prospective students.”

Indeed, the Civic Service Award Dinner is much more than a fundraiser. It is also an opportunity for the community to learn more about the school, and to become closer supporters of HBHA, which currently boasts an enrollment of approximately 235 students.

It is now April 2013. Waiters will soon scurry about the Overland Park Convention Center, and yes, the organizers of the dinner will be stressed about last-minute details. Though the venue, entertainment and guests have changed, the main goals of the 40th Annual Civic Service Award Dinner remain unchanged from that first dinner in April 1974. The dinner will again be organized to showcase HBHA’s prestigious academic environment and close-knit social feel, and to honor local leaders who give back to the community.

“Here’s to hoping that the next 40 years of the Civic Service Award Dinner are as successful and meaningful as the first 40,” Haas said.

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Sam Abrams is a senior at HBHA and editor in chief of The HBHA Ram Page. Sam plans to attend Georgetown University in the fall.

Dinner details

The 2013 Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy Civic Service Award Dinner “Seeding the Future 2013” will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, April 28, at the Overland Park Convention Center. Tickets, sponsorships and advertisements can be purchased online at www.hbha.edu by clicking on one of the topics under the “Seeding the Future” logo. For more information, contact Director of Development Kerry Cosner at 913-327-8156 or . 5:30 p.m.

In November Congregation Beth Torah’s Rabbi Mark Levin announced plans to scale back his role with the congregation in 2014. Last week Beth Torah President Michelle Cole announced to the congregation that it will first seek an interim rabbi to serve the congregation from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015. The search will be conducted through the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the rabbinical association of the Reform movement.

Rabbi Rebecca Reice, who began serving as rabbi educator in July 2012, will continue to serve in her current capacity through this process.

Cole told the congregation the board of trustees decided to seek an interim rabbi before hiring a permanent rabbi because of the very personal connection the members of Beth Torah have with their rabbi.

“The rabbi transition process matters to congregants in so many areas — from life-cycle events to weekly worship to the long-term stability of our community. With that in mind, we are moving forward thoughtfully and with deliberation,” she explained.

Prior to making this decision, Beth Torah’s rabbi transition committee gathered information by conducting focus groups that included approximately 150 congregants, staff, board members and confirmation students.

“We also conducted research with the CCAR and other congregations that have been through similar transitions,” she said.

Cole said the interim rabbi Beth Torah selects will serve rabbinic functions for that fiscal year and be trained to help the congregation move smoothly through the transition.

“Having the interim rabbi here will give us time to review and refine our strategic plan, and thoughtfully proceed with our search for a successor rabbi, who will begin July 1, 2015,” she said.

Rabbi Levin will continue to serve as Beth Torah’s pulpit rabbi through the end of June 2014. After that time he will remain at the congregation in an emeritus role and assume the title of founding rabbi. His role and responsibilities as founding rabbi have not been determined yet.

Religious pluralism is a hot topic in Israel right now, and Rabbi Mark Levin of Congregation Beth Torah believes it should be a hot topic here as well. In fact, he believes this is the most critical issue facing the Jewish people today.

“I believe the future of the Jewish people depends on the State of Israel. The support of the North American Jewish community depends upon the feeling of North American Jewry that we are in fact included in the State of Israel. Under the current religious set up, where the ultra-Orthodox control most everything and the consequent exclusion, with the exception of the ultra Orthodox, from the religious decision-making process, North American Jewry is systematically being excluded from religious participation in the State of Israel and most Israeli Jews are also being systematically excluded,” Rabbi Levin said.

This issue is so important to Rabbi Levin that he organized a panel discussion on religious pluralism in Israel for the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City set for Thursday, May 1. This dialogue will address the concerns and effects of religion and religious pluralism in Israeli domestic politics. Topics will include such things as to what extent is Israel a democracy, a Jewish state, or both? How religious freedom is protected in Israeli law and is Israel today marked by increasing religious pluralism?

Panel participants include: Elana Sztokman, executive director of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Movement; Rabbi Uri Regev, president and CEO of Hiddush — For Freedom of Religion and Equality in Israel; and Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz of Kehilath Israel Synagogue. Rabbi Levin will serve as moderator.

The evening will be structured in a way that each panelist will first express his or her personal view on religious pluralism in Israel. Following the three short presentations, questions from the audience will be presented to the panelists.

Religious pluralism really doesn’t exist in Israel right now. Currently the Orthodox have control over marriage, divorce, conversion and the issue that has received the most press lately — prayer at the Western Wall.

Last week it was reported that some progress has been made toward a compromise for prayer at the Wall, which would allow women to be able to pray there. Even with a compromise in the works, last week (April 11) five women were arrested by police for wearing prayer shawls at the Wall, which JTA reports “contravenes Israeli law requiring respect for ‘local custom’ there.”

This does not sit well with Rabbi Levin.

“The head of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky, had to make a visit to the chief rabbi of the Wall, who gets to make all these decisions, to make sure that women would be able to say Kaddish at the Wall,” Rabbi Levin said. “To wit women cannot carry a tallit, not wear one, into the vicinity of the Western Wall without fear of being arrested.”

The Reform rabbi believes Jews worldwide are being systematically excluded from religious participation in the Jewish state, “which I assert with other well known people in Israel is a threat to the very security of the State of Israel and that American Jewry must be a part of this solution.”

Reform and Conservative Jews are not the only ones concerned by the lack of religious pluralism in Israel.

“As an Orthodox rabbi, I feel I must be proactive to be a part of a solution that brings all Jews closer to Judaism while honoring each individual’s dignity,” said Rabbi Yanklowitz. “Many of my dear Israeli Orthodox colleagues seem to have alienated major segments of the global Jewish community. I feel we must embrace values of inclusivity and honor in how we build up the Jewish state and pull Jews closer, not push them further away.”

Rabbi Levin said American Jews should make their voices heard regarding the importance of religious pluralism in Israel. He pointed out it’s been successfully done in the past when the Israeli government was trying to define the issue of who is a Jew about 20 years ago.

“North American Jewry has stood up as one in the ‘Who’s a Jew’ question and said to the Israeli government you cannot proceed in this direction. The new policy of exclusion was not implemented. North American Jewry must stand up as one and recognize the fact that the Western Wall is symbolic, that the participation of all Jews at the Western Wall is essential and that’s just part of the general exclusion,” Rabbi Levin said.

He also pointed out that 300,000 or more Jews cannot marry in Israel — including 200,000 people who came from the Soviet Union — because there is no such thing as civil marriage there.

“Now the ultra-Orthodox rabbinate has become incredibly exclusionary about who they will accept as a Jew, reversing Orthodox conversions let alone the ceremonies or the conversions of other Jews. This current situation is not tenable and what they are doing is writing off from participation in Israel the vast majority of world Jewry. Eighty-eight percent of the Israeli public says that is not OK,” Rabbi Levin said.

Rabbi Levin continued to stress just how important he believes this issue is for the survival of the Jewish people.

“Sometimes there is an issue that people do not recognize how critical it is until it’s too late. God forbid that a next generation of Jews gets excluded from Jewish life in Israel; they will abandon the Jewish state. In other words the state can’t say, ‘We are the Jewish state. You’re not Jewish. Support us.’ That’s what they are currently saying and that’s not a tenable position and it must be reversed. There must be a pluralistic Israel or the statement will continue to be, ‘We are the Jewish state. You are not Jewish. We need your support.’ ”

Panel discussion details

The Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City, in cooperation with area congregations, will host a panel discussion on “Religious Pluralism in Israel” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, at the Jewish Community Campus.

There is no charge and the community is invited to attend. For questions or further information, visit kcrabbis.org or contact Annette Fish, Rabbinical Administration administrator/program director at , 913-327-4622.

Right now there are only two ways to see the hit play “My Name is Asher Lev.” You can fly to New York or you can drive to 39th and Main in midtown to the Unicorn Theatre.

The Unicorn is under the artistic and executive leadership of Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin, who joined the company in 1980. Currently in her 34th season with the theater, Levin said theaters across the country are now clamoring for the rights to the hit play, but the producing rights have been “frozen” while it’s playing in New York.

However, Levin saw the play’s potential early and sought the rights to it about 18 months ago. That makes the Unicorn the first theater to do the play, other than off -roadway, anywhere in the country.

Described as powerful and moving, this story follows the journey of a young painter torn between his religious upbringing and his insatiable need to fulfill his artistic passion — against the will of his family, community and tradition. The Chronicle is one of the sponsors of this production.

A couple of things attracted Levin to the play.

“First, I always try to keep my eye out for a play that has some sort of Jewish theme. I just think that’s important and in my quest for cultural diversity that does include bringing Judaism to the midtown area, now that everybody’s left the area,” she said.

Levin had read the novel “My Name is Asher Lev” by Chaim Potok, who died in 2002. The author began his career as a novelist in 1967 with the publication of “The Chosen,” the first book from a major publisher to portray Orthodox Judaism in the United States. Throughout his writing career Potok continued to examine the conflict between secular and religious interests. Aaron Posner adapted the book, along with Potok’s widow, for the stage.

“I love the story. I love the book. I knew we had to do it here. I’ve been so excited and I’ve been waiting for years to get in rehearsal. There was no question about doing this play,” the Jewish director continued.

Levin said the play follows the book to a T.

“The only thing, of course, that happens in the play is that fewer things happen in the play. You have to condense in a 90-minute play and you have to condense this novel in theatrical terms. So we lose a lot of the background and a lot of depth that you get in the novel. But what’s great is that we can bring in all of that depth and character because we have living, breathing actors portraying this story,” she explained.

She said the play has a fascinating script.

“The dramatization of it is really exciting and interesting and very contemporary. You’re telling a story about Chasidism in the ’50s, which is pretty much based on the Lubavitch movement of Chasidism, but it’s done in such a new, vibrant, contemporary way. It’s a great mix of a story that took place 50 years ago but told in very new, modern terms,” she said.

The play takes place in what Levin explained was the height of abstract expressionism.

“We create the ’50s. We create this Jewish home. We create what an artist’s studio looks like,” she said.

As in the book, there are many passages where Asher speaks directly to the audience.

“He tells part of the story in between the dramatized scenes. He will speak as an adult, as the book does. We see Asher from age 6 to 26, so it’s very interesting and then he can step out of the character and also speak out about what he’s thinking in looking back on it and the retrospect that he has,” Levin said.

Levin said that all of the actors read the book while preparing for the production. Levin helped them research some of the themes in the play, including Chasidism and Orthodox Jewry. The actors even attended a service at BIAV.

“Plus all my ancestry is Russian, and Yiddish was spoken in my home, so I get to use everything in my religious and cultural background to bring to this play. We’ve done shows with Jewish themes before, but I’m not sure we’ve ever done a show that is this Jewish,” she said.

“It’s just so cool to be able to bring a little bit of Orthodox Jewish life to the stage and to Kansas City. It’s just not done very often.”

She praised BIAV’s Rabbi Daniel Rockoff and the assistance he has provided during the pre-production.

“Rabbi Rockoff was great. The actors got to meet with him and talk to him. Anything they needed, he’s been available,” she said.

Talk back performances, where patrons are encouraged to stay after the show and discuss the play with the actors and director, are scheduled for April 23, 28, and May 5. Rabbi Rockoff will participate in two, April 23 and April 28. These talk backs will also feature an art expert on stage with the cast, to foster the discussion of art and faith in society.

Levin hopes this play will appeal to the general community as well as the Jewish one. She said she finds it fascinating to turn people on to something that they haven’t known about before.

“I do plays about every diverse group I can think of. Whether it’s African-American or the women in Afghanistan or homosexuals or poor people, every sort of minority or disenfranchised group that we in Kansas City may not be a part of or we may not know about,” she explained.

“We hunger to know about people in our community. I have to believe that we do want to know about all of the people that make up our community. That’s important to me and I certainly know that that must be an interest to the thousands of people who come to The Unicorn because those are the kinds of shows that I do.”

Levin said a reception was recently held at the theater and those who attended got to see a scene from the play. Most of the attendees weren’t Jewish, and Levin said they were enthralled by it.

“They get to see something that they didn’t know. They get to hear a language that they didn’t know. I would stop and explain … I’m putting a glossary in the program so people can follow along. I think people will love it and I think people will be fascinated.”

‘My Name is Asher Lev’

“My Name is Asher Lev” plays on Unicorn Theatre’s Mainstage located at 3828 Main Street in Kansas City, Mo., through May 12. Previews are April 18 and 19. Opening Night is April 20.

Performances Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m.

For ticket information, call 816-531-PLAY (7529) Ext. 10, go online at www.UnicornTheatre.org or buy in person at the box office. Special discounts are available for seniors (60+), students and patrons under age 35.