Rabbis Believe Collaboration Key to Future Directly to the Themes of Our High Holidays: Joining As One People with by Barbara Bayer Kansas City
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$1.00 The KANSAS CITY Volume 91, Number 39 www.kcjc.com September 22, 2011 jewish chronicle B’nai Jehudah, Beth Torah plan joint worship service By Barbara Bayer Editor In the spirit of cooperation and collaboration, the two largest Re- form congregations in town —The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehu- dah and Congregation Beth Torah — will worship together for the first time at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, at B’nai Jehudah. The service will follow B’nai Jehudah’s ritual and, at the invitation of B’nai Jehudah’s Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff, Beth Torah’s Rab- bi Mark Levin will give the sermon. Rabbi Nemitoff always invites a PHOTO BY EDMÉE RODRIGUEZ guest speaker to share the pulpit on Congregation Beth Torah’s Rabbi Vered Harris reads to a class of preschoolers at Congregation Beth Shalom’s Rose Family Early Child- Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat that hood Education Center. Shown sitting on the rug is teacher Vicki Diamond, and in the chair next to Rabbi Harris is Judy Jacks Berman, the falls between Rosh Hashanah and preschool’s director. Yom Kippur. He said it is not an ac- cident that the joint service is tak- ing place on that Shabbat. “This first-ever event speaks Rabbis believe collaboration key to future directly to the themes of our High Holidays: joining as one people with By Barbara Bayer Kansas City. The local rabbis want to night, Sept. 24, (For more information, common hopes and dreams,” Rabbi Editor take that support for each other a step see Page 6) the all-night Shavuot pro- Nemitoff said. further and begin finding ways for their gram and the Day of Discovery which “It’s not about repentance, it’s Rabbis in Kansas City are proud congregations to collaborate more in kicks off the education season. just about a new beginning,” Rabbi of the fact that across the board they an effort to build a more vibrant Jew- The idea of collaboration is becom- Levin said. get along well. Many will tell you it’s ish community for the future. ing more important, according to sev- As Rabbi Nemitoff explained, highly unusual for rabbis of very dif- The concept of collaboration is not eral local rabbis, because of the chang- Beth Torah and B’nai Jehudah have ferent spiritual beliefs — from Chabad new said Rabbinical Association Presi- ing Jewish community. to Reform to Orthodox — to support dent Rabbi Herbert Mandl of Kehilath “Nobody knows how many Jews see Reform, page 8 each other in one organization such as Israel Synagogue. there are in this city, but we know that the Rabbinical Association of Greater “The whole concept of collabora- the current situation is very different tion between synagogues began at than it has been in the past,” said Beth the Rabbinical Association of Greater Torah Rabbi Mark Levin. “There isn’t Kansas City. It is my hope that many a religious school in the city that has as synagogues will have joint ventures be- many kids in it as it once did and we tween them in the year ahead,” he said. think there are fewer Jewish kids over- Over the years the Rabbinical As- all.” sociation has planned communitywide Todd Stettner, Federation executive events to help bring the community vice president and CEO, echoed Rabbi together, most notably the upcoming Levin’s comments that the community Selichot service which will be held at see Cooperation, page 7 Congregation Beth Torah Saturday page 2 The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle September 22, 2011 Th e KANSAS listening post CITY jewish chronicle a tradition since 1920 By Barbara Bayer, Stephen F. Rose Chairman Editor [email protected] David Small BRAVO — The opening events President of the Kauffman Center for the Per - [email protected] forming Arts were the talk of the Barbara Bayer town this weekend and early this Editor week. It was designed by Israeli ar - [email protected] chitect Moshe Safi, and the buzz is it’s magnificent. Many local Jews Marcia Horn Montgomery were involved in opening-weekend Community Editor activities. One was Hyman Brand [email protected] Hebrew Academy junior Avery Amy Cohn Parkhurst, who plays violin in the Advertising Manager Kansas City Youth Orchestra and [email protected] performed Sunday in Helzberg Hall. Greg Azorsky had a booth outside Barbara Lewis Godfrey the Kauffman Center during the Account Executive open house Sunday selling one of his [email protected] KC Cool shirts, which is an expan - Judy Lanes sion of his Meshugge Shirts featured Account Executive in the paper earlier this year. The de- [email protected] sign, “Move Over, Sydney,” sold well. Describing the design, Azorsky said Mike Bennett that “the Sydney Opera House has Production Director been such an iconic building for the Michael Stern (right) purchased a ‘Move Over, Sydney’ shirt from Greg Azorsky [email protected] performing arts and now we have (background to the left). Heather Swan this new building here that may very By 1931, its name had changed to Me- uate and graduate programs among Special Sections Editor well become another such building. norah Hospital and ground was bro - the top 25 entrepreneurship programs [email protected] I had a lot of people come up to our ken on 14 acres south of Brush Creek in the country. Only 11 schools nation- tent who said ‘That is just what I was from Troost to Holmes and north of wide have both undergraduate and Delivery Problems? thinking.’ ” Even Kansas City Sym - 50th Street. Sixty-three years later graduate programs included in this phony Music Director Michael Stern in 1994 the complex called Menorah ranking. Call (913) 951-8425 Or e-mail purchased a shirt! If you didn’t get a Park opened at 119th and Nall to [email protected] chance to see Kauffman Center last take advantage of the Jewish migra - TWEETING WITH THE WHITE weekend, check it out when Marvin tion to southern Johnson County. In HOUSE — Earlier this month Kan - Published every Thursday by Hamlisch performs Nov. 3 in honor 1996 the Missouri location was closed sas City native Chloe White, who of the Midwest Center for Holocaust entirely as a new Menorah Medical now lives and works in Washington, Education’s 18th anniversary. Center opened in Kansas. We salute D.C., was selected to attend the White everyone who was instrumental in House Tweetup briefing with Press MENORAH MILESTONE — Me- getting the hospital open and making Secretary Jay Carney. Those inter - 4210 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Suite 314A norah Medical Center hasn’t been Fairway, Kansas 66205-2532 it an institution the entire city can be ested in attending applied and White Chronicle Offi ce: (913) 951-8440 a Jewish hospital since it was pur - proud of. was one of only 12 people selected to Facsimile: (913) 674-5379 chased by Health Midwest in 1994. attend. Members of the group were Website: www.kcjc.com Now a for-profit hospital owned by UMKC’S BLOCH BUILDING given the opportunity to ask questions E-mail: [email protected] HCA Midwest Health System, we feel — Henry Bloch has donated $32 mil - about President Obama’s speech on it would be in poor taste for us not lion — the largest outright gift in creating jobs and growing the econ - ©2011 MetroMedia. All rights reserved. to recognize the hospital’s rich Jew - UMKC’s history — to fund a state-of- omy. They also got to take a tour of ish history as it celebrates its 80th the-art building to house the Henry the White House and had a chance to PUBLISHER NOTICE anniversary. It opened its doors on W. Bloch School of Management’s meet with other White House officials. The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle (ISSN 0022-8524) (USPS Sept. 7, 1931, but Jewish doctors be - (Bloch School) graduate and ex - After the event, the group was encour- 290140) is published weekly throughout the year, plus gan calling for a Jewish hospital way ecutive programs. Bloch has been a aged to tweet all about it. White said one special edition in June and another in September, by back in 1882. Funds became available lifelong advocate of education and MetroMedia, 4210 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Suite 314A, it was a fantastic experience to get the Fairway, Kansas 66205-2532. Subscription $54.95 per to start building the hospital in 1917, began supporting the UMKC School opportunity to go behind the scenes of year in area (includes sales tax), $64.95 per year outside but other things in the community of Business Administration when he the White House and talk to senior of- the area. Periodicals Postage paid at Shawnee Mission, took precedence and the Jewish Me - endowed the school in 1986. Most re- ficials about the issues of the day. She Kansas Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Kansas morial Hospital Association wasn’t cently The Princeton Review recog - City Jewish Chronicle, 4210 Shawnee Mission Parkway, even got to pet Bo! Suite 314A, Fairway, Kansas 66205-2532. formed and incorporated until 1926. nized the Bloch School’s undergrad - September 22, 2011 The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle page 3 65th wedding anniversary testament to KC’s welcoming spirit By Barbara Bayer the agencies that were responsible for Editor us, and the entire Kansas City Jewish community, outdid themselves taking Today (Thursday, Sept. 22) is Ann care of us.” and Isak Federman’s 65th wedding an- niversary. The two moved to Kansas THEIR STORY City only months before they married. Coming to the center of the Midwest- Ann Warszawski Federman is from ern United States is still one of Ann’s Bendzin, Poland.