BYOP Shabbat At 6 p.m. Friday, June 28, we meet on the patio at All Souls to make Shabbos together. (In case the weather doesn’t cooperate, we will move inside.) Bring your own picnic. We will do a little praying and Shabbat blessings. Note: There will be no Zoom option this week.
Paper Bag Donations Bring your gently used paper grocery sacks with you when you come to All Souls. We donate them to Migrant Farmworkers Assistance Fund for food distribution to farmworkers and their families. Thank you!
Upcoming Kol Ami Event
Community Coffee Kol Ami is hosting a coffee get-together at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 18, at Aixois (251 East 55th Street). For additional info, email engagement@
Yahrzeits This Week June 28 Conrad Steinel – father of Dan Steinel
June 30 Blanche Haber – grandmother of Brad Ordo
July 1 Rose Dietchman – mother of Alan Dietchman
We Wish Mi Shebeirach A complete healing of mind, body and spirit:
Rabbi Doug Alpert Robert Clinton Kenneth Dantzler Renée Dietchman Harriet Greenwald Karla Jacobs Rabbi Sally Priesand Jean Shifrin Melvin Michael Slater Robert Allen Slater
If you would like a name to continue to be listed or if you have a new name to include, please send an email to healing@kolamikc.org.
Rabbi's Week in Review
Fay and I attended the concert of our Kansas City Symphony this past weekend. It not only was the last concert of the season but it also was the final concert of artistic director/conductor Michael Stern. He leaves the symphony after a 19-year tenure.
I, as I am sure many, have reflected on the changes and growth of our symphony over that period of time, beginning when the symphony was still playing in the old Lyric Opera ... Click here to read the rest of Rabbi Doug's blog post.
Weekly Feature
Finding Community Anywhere — Shabbat Aboard a Ship By Ellen Karp
I recently concluded a two-week trip, to visit an old friend in England, with a long-dreamed-of ocean crossing on the Queen Mary 2. The voyage lived up to all my expectations of Cunard’s vaunted “white glove” service. What I had not anticipated was a Shabbat service — announced in the ship’s daily program — on a late Friday afternoon.
Twenty-five of us (out of 2,000 passengers) greeted one another with “Shabbat shalom” as we each found our way to the ship’s Commodore Room. Prayer books were laid out, a braided challah rested beneath a napkin, and there were the makings for Kiddush. A boisterous and balabusta-like grandmother (seemingly a QM2 veteran voyager) loudly complained to staff that the prayer books were strictly for the High Holy Days. The books were quickly and apologetically replaced with the weekday siddurim.
We introduced ourselves, recruited a DIY leader and held a short service, followed by Shabbat blessings. The sense of community was enveloping, moving and strong. Our leader made aliyah years ago, and has divided her time between Israel and Brooklyn. One participant, who has lived in Moab, Utah, for many years, approached our leader with tears in her eyes — she had not been in a synagogue for 50 years. She was grateful for the gathering, and amazed that she still remembered the Kiddush and Hamotzi.
It was a stunning moment to witness, and a fitting reminder of my connection to our people and our heritage.
This Week's Torah Portion Parashat Shelach-Lecha (Bamidbar/Numbers 13:1-15:41) We read about the mitzvah, the commandment, regarding the wearing of tzitzit, fringes on the corners of our garments. This regard for tzitzit, the Tallit that we wear, serves as a behavioral tool. It is a reminder to live intentionally — not just to adhere to ritual observance for its own sake but to use the discipline that comes with such observance to live a moral life with intention. We need to think about our actions and how they impact the people around us.
Our mailing address is: Congregation Kol Ami 4501 Walnut Street ℅ All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church Kansas City, MO 64111
