B’nai Mitzvah This coming Shabbat morning, August 17, at 10 a.m. at the JCC (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park), we are excited to celebrate the b’nai mitzvah of Rhys and Harry Pabst. We wish the entire Pabst family a heartfelt mazel tov on this important simchah in their lives.
Weekday-Morning Minyan A reminder that we continue our weekday-morning service and study on Zoom Monday-Friday, from 8 to 8:15 a.m. We gather on Zoom for a short service, including Daf Yomi, a study of the daily page of Talmud. It is a great way to start the day in community. Please join us. Click here for the Zoom link. Yahrzeit This Week
August 18 Mary Moser Christensen – mother of Renee Dietchman
We Wish Mi Shebeirach A complete healing of mind, body and spirit:
Sondra Levy Atherly Robert Clinton Kenneth Dantzler Alan Dietchman Renée Dietchman Harriet Greenwald Carrie Hollister Karla Jacobs Rabbi Sally Priesand Jean Shifrin Melvin Michael 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
Every so often, I feel the need (or force myself) to step out from the tsuris in the world — the grievance, anger, fear and cynicism — to grab on to something positive. Sometimes that may mean looking the other way when an event that brings me joy may, behind the scenes, come with some dubious conduct.
My path to Kol Ami began with a chance encounter. Last November, I participated in a panel discussion in Liberty, Missouri, for an event about antisemitism. It was a story table, a conversational format where people with a common culture share their experiences. The other panel members were part of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/AJC in Overland Park.
When I was asked how it felt to be Jewish in the Northland, the answer was easy: lonely. Raised Reform in the Washington, D.C., metro area, I found that Jewish connection there was never an issue. My immigrant grandparents spoke Yiddish, my family went to synagogue and we had interfaith friends, always keeping Judaism at the forefront. I’ve experienced indirect and direct antisemitism in both places but more so in the Midwest.
With no family in the KC area and not knowing any other Jews, I just accepted not belonging to a Jewish community. Forty-five years later, I tried a few Reform congregations, but none of them “fit.” I stopped looking, content to live in Judaism’s spiritual side.
After the story table, however, a panel member strongly suggested that I try Kol Ami as a way to reconnect. I was grateful for the suggestion because it brought me to Kol Ami. I immediately found it to be a welcoming community that consistently relates Jewish life and values to today and works for social justice, one of my longstanding passions and efforts. So thank you, Kol Ami, for new opportunities and a place to land.
This Week's Torah Portion Parashat Va’etchanan (Devarim/Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11)
Here we find the source for the Shema and an important repeat of the Aseret HaDibrot, the Ten Commandments. The overarching theme that is central to our relationship with G-d is that, like our interpersonal relationships, our relationship with G-d involves one of giving to the other. Even with G-d, we need to have an opportunity for giving back and not being solely takers in the relationship.
Our mailing address is: Congregation Kol Ami 4501 Walnut Street ℅ All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church Kansas City, MO 64111
