100 Years Ago
(From the April 16, 1926 issue of The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle)
The first meeting of the Nordaunian Chapter 22, of Aleph Zadik Aleph, was held at the Community Hall, Kansas City, Kan. An election of officers was held, the following being elected: Dave Tenenbaum, Aleph Godol; Abe Shaw, Aleph S’gan; Ben Eisenman, Aleph Mazkir; Abe Litnein, Aleph Gisbor; Herman Bernstein, Aleph Shotare; Leonard Shopmaker, Junior Aleph Shotare; Sol Zukerman, Aleph Kohen Godol; and Stanley Simon, Aleph Sopher.
Plans were made for the initiation, to be held Sunday, April 18, at the Community Hall, Kansas City, Kan. The ininiation ceremony will be performed by the Kansas City, Mo. chapter (AZA #2). There will be a banquet at 6 p.m. for members and guests, and installation of officers at 9 p.m. , following which there will be dancing. The Re-Inn Orchestra will furnish the dance music.
Members of Kansas City, Mo., and St. Joseph, Mo., have been invited. B’nai B’rith members are invited to the secret initiation, and the public is invited to the installation of officers.
Mr. Joseph Cohen is the advisor of the Nordaunian chapter.
50 Years Ago
(From the April 16, 1976 issue of The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle)
Diversity, Common Heritage Unite Jews
By Eddie Bigus
Ananchu echod. We are one. Ananchu Yehudim. We are Jews.
We are all diversified, and yet we have a common heritage and a belief that links us together. We have a long line of tradition, longer than many other religions or cultures. Included in that long line of tradition is a history of persecution that many other religions or races can lay claim to.
However, we Jews have a set of moral values and ethics which will not permit us to use other peoples as scapegoats, as has been done to us. We must retain our Jewish identity to that instead of doing unto others as they have done unto us, we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
Our history of persecution should not only strengthen our defenses against anti-Semitism, but should also soften our hearts toward other minorities and other groups which are being persecuted throughout the world and right here in our own community, too.
There are those who are being persecuted because they are of a different color, others who are ostracized because of their beliefs. Shockingly enough, there are occasionally Jewish people – people considered to be intelligent – who are among the oppressors.
As Jews, we are a minority. As such, we need to help other minorities. Fortunately, there are many Jewish organizations and Jewish-affiliated organizations which do exactly that. The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the local Jewish Community Relations Bureau, and Menorah Medical Center are only a few examples of Jews practicing their belief that discrimination is unjust.
Bayard Rustin, director of the newly-organized Black Americans to Support Israel Committee (BASIC), is a fine example of a minority helping Jewish causes. With Jews helping other minorities with their causes, and with Christians like Bayard Rustin, the world could see the coming of the Messianic Age much sooner.
Ananchu echod. We are one. Ananchu Yehudim. We are Jews. We are all different, and yet we have common beliefs that link us, one to another. Among these beliefs is the belief that life is precious – no matter whose life it is. People must care for one another. The entire world is a “family.” Why must we squabble?
Eddie Bigus is a former Aleph Godol of AZA #2.
20 Years Ago
(From the April 14, 2006 issue of The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle)
Last spring, Overland Park siblings Daniel and Rachel Bernard each won their respective high school and middle school divisions in the National Bible Contest, held at New York’s Yeshiva University.
On Sunday the pair will fly to Israel to represent the United States in the International Bible Contest.
Daniel and Rachel will spend a week studying at the home of Rabbi Yossi Zilbershatz, an Israeli educator who lived and worked in Kansas City for a couple of years and who, before that, helped to administer the National Bible Contest on behalf of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Daniel is a 10th-grade student at Shawnee Mission South High School (and member of Two’s AZA). Rachel is an eighth grader at Indian Woods Middle School. The Bernards are members of Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner.
The actual contest begins April 25. All contestants will take a written test. The top 16 scorers on this test proceed to the International Competition on Yorn Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, May 3.
In addition, 16 participants from 16 different countries are chosen to participate in the Diaspora Competition based on their scores on this test. Only one contestant per country (excluding Israel) qualifies for the Diaspora Competition. The competition is televised throughout Israel.
