By:
On:
In: Blog
With: 0 Comments

How to Respectfully React to Suicide By Sarah Link Ferguson Kol Ami Congregant and Mental Health Coalition Coordinator at Jewish Family Services It is difficult to know how to react when we learn that someone has died, whether it’s someone we know or a celebrity, but how we react can have an impact on those around us. This is especially true when we are talking about traumatic death such as suicide. I lost my brother to suicide in 2012 and was overwhelmed by the number of inappropriate questions and responses I received regarding his death. I tried then and I try now to give peopleRead More →

By:
On:
In: Rabbi's Blog
With: 0 Comments

Last week we read of the suicides of two high profile public figures; both held in high regard, and both leaving young daughters behind. There was also a report released showing an alarming increase in suicides; including in the state of Kansas. I do not pretend to have any special insight in regard to why this happens. I do know that while a community like Kol Ami cannot absolutely prevent suicides, it should be our stated goal to be a concerned and caring community where it is less likely to occur. I spoke last year on Yom Kippur about the need to de-stigmatize mental illness.Read More →

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

Poor People’s Campaign We are now into the third week of the Poor People’s Campaign. Originally based on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign; a fight against racism, poverty as well as a fight for a more peaceful world. In the present Poor People’s Campaign we include environmental degradation as it disproportionately impacts the poor. The goal is to put the needs of the poor and issues of poverty, both moral issues, back into the political dialogue, and living out our values of helping all who are in need. No one who works two or three jobs should be making poverty wages.Read More →

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

Join us for our monthly Shabbat speaker series on July 6th. Hear from Leslie Ann McNolty from The Center for Practical Bioethics. She will provide an overview of the Center and the context and strategies for the priority areas it is working to affect, along with the ways it includes voices and perspectives infrequently invited to participate in these issues. The Center for Practical Bioethics is a nonprofit, free-standing and independent organization nationally recognized for its work in practical bioethics. For more than 30 years, the Center has helped patients and their families, healthcare professionals, policymakers and corporate leaders grapple with difficult issues in healthcare andRead More →

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

Join Congregation Kol Ami for KC Repertory’s Performance of LETTERS FROM FREEDOM SUMMER Sunday, May 6th at 2 PM Kol Ami Reception at 1 PM Directed By Ricardo Khan This fundraising event supports the Congregation’s financial stability and high quality programming such as our high holiday services. In the charged summer of 1964, college students from across the U.S. came together to fight for voting rights in Mississippi, a state known for intimidating and terrorizing Black Americans out of their right to vote. Letters from Freedom Summer celebrates the courage and resilience of the young people who changed the fate of this nation. Letters from FreedomRead More →

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

Please join Kol Ami for our 2nd-night Passover seder! Theme: Celebrating Women in the Exodus Date: March 31, 2018 (Saturday) Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM Location: Bragg Auditorium, All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut Street Kansas City, Mo. 64111 Please plan to bring a kosher-for-Passover (that’s no chametz!) vegetarian dish to share. Please contact Rabbi Doug Alpert (dougalpert@kolamikc.com or 816-510-4895) with any questions about whether a dish or ingredient is okay. To RSVP, please click visit our SignUp Genius page by March 13, 2018. You will then be asked to specify the dish you are bringing. If at a later date you decideRead More →

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

Join Congregation Kol Ami for KC Repertory’s Performance of BROTHER TOAD Saturday, May 12th at 8 PM | Kol Ami Reception at 7 PM KC Repertory Copaken Theater 1 H&R Block Way Kansas City, MO 64105 Directed By MELISSA CRESPO Written By NATHAN LOUIS JACKSON This fundraising event supports the Congregation’s financial stability and high quality programming such as our high holiday services. Mellon Foundation KCRep Resident Playwright and Kansas City, KS resident, Nathan Louis Jackson (Sticky Traps, Broke-ology, When I Come To Die), brings us an arresting new play about two families from different stations in life as they search for answers to gunRead More →

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

Kol Ami is getting starry-eyed! Join us this Friday, February 9 at 6:45 pm at All Souls (Conover) for a love-ly oneg. Bring a “Love Potion” — alcoholic or not, fruity or funky — for us to taste, and the recipe for your drink in case yours is the Drink of Choice. Sweet foods, chocolates and treats are welcome too! Read More →

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11: 3-5 PM,  ALL SOULS –  KOL AMI’S ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING: Please plan to attend this important meeting at which time the new by-laws will be voted on by the membership. We will also hope to preview some exciting plans for the coming year, welcome our 10 new families, and reconnect our kehilah for the new year. Read More →