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Uh, today is August 3, 1988. We're an oral history interview with Arthur Brand and we're at Rockhurst College. I'm Bill Ryan with Genevieve Robinson also as an interviewer. OK, uh, well. Would you first give us maybe just a little of your own biographical information? I'll just

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ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind, and then perhaps we'll ask you about your, when your parents came to Kansas City. Um, would you mind telling us when you were born, and I assume in Kansas City. No, I was born in New York,

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uh, on November 4th, 1922. OK. New York City. New York City. Probably the Bronx. Uh-huh. OK. Uh, Well, um, I'm sure that's an there must be more to this too though meets the eye. Uh, when did your parents come to Kansas City? Let's, let's go to

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that and then we'll see how this, uh, all evolved here. My, uh, parents came, the whole family came to Kansas City in June of 1928. And uh. There were 3 family, um, groups that came at the same time. Uh, my father's brother, well, let me start

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with my father's name. My father Hyman Brand, uh. My mother Clara. My father's brother Joseph Brand. And his wife. And a brother-in-law of my father, Harry Puritz. And his wife They came, the 3 of them came to open a factory in Kansas City, a garment factory,

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Coats in particular. Uh, because. National Coat Company. A national distributor of coats at that time wanted a Midwest resource. Kansas City being in the heart of America. Uh, transportation in those days not being as rapid as they were today. They were looking for a source where

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they could have a better, quicker distribution point. Uh, my parents then therefore came here in order to open this factory that would supply garments for the National Coat Company. Kansas City was a developing garment center even at that time. The, um crash of 29 occurred. And

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National Coal Company went bankrupt. Leaving the three families in Kansas City pretty high and dry. They struggled for a number of years in trying to develop their own sales organization and. Continue to operate the factory. The, um, Finally managed to do that. Uh and I guess

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somewhere in the early 30s, um, began to be successful. Uh, the war came in, as the war was developing, the, the need for garments for the army developed and, uh, shortages occurred and from that point on, uh, pretty much everybody was successful. The Kansas City garment

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industry. developed through the 40s and into the 50s. And was one of, I think, the 7th largest garment center in the United States. It was um. said that 1 out of every 7 women in America wore a garment manufactured in Kansas City. Uh, dresses, coats, suits.

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It was the era of course of more tailored formal kind of wear. The casual clothing hadn't come in yet and the entire industry in the city had developed around that concept. There were probably um maybe 60 manufacturers in town. It was the 3rd largest employer of

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labor in the city. Uh, and was an extremely important integral part of the Kansas City community. Through the, um, toward the end of the 60s, I guess going into the 70s, the industry began to decline. Uh, fashions changed. Women were going into more casual clothing, the

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less tailored look. And more overseas. Garments were being imported. Uh, the direction was toward manufacturing was toward the south. Where non-union labor was able to be employed. And so the industry practically dissolved. There were any number of bankruptcies, any number of people that just closed their

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doors and went out of business. And today, uh, it's, there may be 3 manufacturers left in the city. Uh, we're still, In a very, very small, to a very small degree, we still are operating a garment factory here. And, um, It it's just one element that

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seemed to have some uh chance for success out of the entire structure that uh we were. Engaged in. Um, What was the name of the company that your father and, and I guess the two uncles, would they be, uh, what was the name of that company?

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It was Brand and Puritz. There, there were any number of large companies here. Nelly Don is, might be a name that you would recognize. Gurna Garment Company, FashionBuilt, um. Uh, Lewis Walters, Youth Craft, uh, large numbers of, of major manufacturers in the, in the city. Was

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there any attempt to keep the industry alive, uh, or, or was it just a foregone conclusion that the competition was too great? No, there was, yeah, there was a struggle. Um, for a long time, the union wouldn't recognize that we had a problem and made it

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difficult for us to enter into the importing end of the business. We were trying to supplement things that we were doing here with importing ourselves, um. There was an effort on some people's part to open their own retail outlets so that they would have sources for

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their production, but they really couldn't compete with the cheaper garments that were coming in from overseas and then as larger retailers developed. They were going direct to the Orient on their own. They didn't need the middleman who was going to be doing the, uh, overseeing the

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factories over there for them. So that, there, there was a long period of uh of effort. On most of these manufacturers' part before they finally Could no longer make it. Going back to when the three families came, were they sent here by a company they were

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already employed with, or did they come to establish this? They were in business in New York City. Uh, they had their own factory there. It was a small factory and they were sent here by National Coat Company, not as employees, but under, I guess, an unwritten

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probably, but under a contract arrangement where National Coat Company said go to Kansas City, we'll buy your product. I see, uh-huh, OK. Your, um, Would be your uncle Joseph. Um, uh, was he married at the time when he came? Uh, he was married to, uh, yes,

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he was married. They had a six week old girl when they came in June of 28th. What was his wife's name? Betty Betty. Yeah. That was their only child at that time, at that time, uh, so you were, uh. I had a sister. You were both,

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both you and your sister were born in New York City, is that right? And so you spent at least a few years in New York City growing up, is that right? Yes, 5 years. Don't remember much about it, but I was there for 5 years. And

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then the Harry Puritz, uh, he was married to an aunt of yours. He was married to my father's sister Bess Bessie Bess. Brand. Did they have children when they came? No, uh, and um. Joe and Betty had one more child when they came, uh, and Harry

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and Bess had a child after they arrived in Kansas City. They were all apparently young. Young families, um, when they came, probably in their 30s at that time. The I wonder if, if, um, I could ask at this point about the Jewish community that they came

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into when they arrived here. Were they from, uh, well, could you tell me what the Jewish community in Kansas City, uh, had many, many facets to it. How, how did they fit into that? Well, they Were not orthodox in their religion, but they were religious. They

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had, uh, my father actually. From the stories I have heard, was a Hebrew teacher in Europe before he immigrated to America, emigrated and arrived in America. So he had a good Jewish education and a good Jewish background. Uh, you would come to a community like this

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and enter the Jewish community through the synagogue. Which of course is what they did. Um, They, if I, I'm, I'm doing this from memory, but they came, um, and start, they, they joined a very small congregation at first that was an Orthodox congregation, but within about

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a year, and I think probably because of the school system changed congregations to what at that time was Gennesset Israel Beth Shalom, which today is Beth Shalom, uh, and, uh. ACT became an active participant in the congregational life. I believe that the change was made because

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of the school system and so that my sister and I could. Uh, could enter that school program. He then, um, Well, the entire family, uh, rapidly became involved in the rest of the Jewish community. At that time, There was a um home for the aged. And

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the Jewish Community Center. And a young uh organized, a, a young Jewish Federation, council of Jewish Federations it was called at that time that was just being organized. And my father became active in most of those. Uh, Menorah Hospital was already in existence, and, um, the

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Jewish Family and Children's Service of today had an Alfred Benjamin dispensary that was going at that time. So that the Council of Jewish Federations brought them all into one umbrella. Under one umbrella and became the fundraising arm for those organizations. My father went on to become

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uh. President of the congregation. Uh, Became uh then was granted the title of Parnus, P A R N E S S. Which is like the, um, The senior. Well, what the uh. senior citizen is the wrong word, but, but the, the individual who had the uh.

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Uh, acknowledged. Um Respect of the entire, even more than that than that and it has, uh, he, I think probably was the only one that ever required that title in any congregation in the city and has not since his death, it has not been bestowed on

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anyone else, uh, became. President of the Jewish Federation of Kansas City. What does that mean to be the president of the Jewish Federation? The Jewish Federation is the central umbrella organization of the community. It does 3 primary things. One does the fundraising for the various organizations

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of the community, and does the fundraising for the United Jewish Appeal, which is the organization that then sends money on to Israel. Uh, it, uh, second branch is in the area of, um, the allocating the funds it raises and has uh budget committees that makes a

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determination of how the money that is raised will be distributed. And the third is the planning for the Jewish community as a whole. Uh, what other activities are required, uh, if a demographic study is felt that it's needed, it, it goes into that and, um. Does

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the um well as I'll get into it a little bit longer, um, has very recently developed the. Information that indicated that we needed a central campus. And, um, So it, it does those three functions in, in a very broad general way. There are, there's today, there

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are additional organizations that have been formed that come under the umbrella. The Jewish Community Relations Bureau. That you contacted. Uh, which handles relations with the general community. The Jewish Education Council. Uh, which Works with the various synagogues and the single day school that we have that

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is named the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy after my father. And, um, Works also in the area of teacher training and adult education. And then in the 40s, I guess it was, the Jewish vocational service was organized. And at that time it was started so that the

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immigrants, the refugees who were coming from Europe, Uh, would be able to find, uh, Help them with job placement. Has expanded its services so that it does, um, In addition to job counseling, it does college career counseling, and it has a very large workshop for the

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uh handicapped. Um, it's. An excellent organization in town now. Now, who was the rabbi, uh, at, um, would it have been Beth Shalom or was, were the two, Knesset, Israel and Beth Shalom together when your family arrived, um, from New York? Yeah, they, there were two

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congregations that merged, and they merged prior to my family's arrival. Prior to that, yeah. Who was the rabbi then that would have been there, uh, when your father was president of the, or the court of the Rabbi Haddis. OK. Well, Christian Hadi. How did your father

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get involved then with, with the. Attempt to unite the educational program to the point where it is today. I'm sure there's quite a history to that, but I'm wondering how your father was involved and then perhaps how you also have been involved. Um, There were, there

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have been, there were several aborted attempts to start a day school in the Kansas City area. That were unsuccessful primarily because the effort was being made through congregations. And there are 3 branches of Judaism. There's an Orthodox. And a conservative and a reform. The uh. Orthodox

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want everything to be very strictly. Um Regulated and to adhere to all of the traditions and uh the the rules and the regulations. The conservatives sort of hit a middle branch between there and the reform, making concessions to go along with the American way of life

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and the reform go even further in that direction, uh, easing a lot of the rules to a much greater extent. And the problem was that the congregational rabbis could not get together and agree that a day school in Kansas City would be able to have this

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middle ground. Uh, the Orthodox rabbi would not agree with the conservative rabbi that, um. His, that you could relax the rules and still consider it to be a day school. So that we never were able to have one. The parents then of some younger children made

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the decision that if we were going to have this in Kansas City, they had to do it on their own. And so something like 12 to 14 families, young people who had young children, decided that they were gonna make the effort, and I think they started

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with something like 27 youngsters or 30 youngsters in a school. And they came to my father knowing, well, actually one of the youngsters was Karl Puritz, the son of Harry and Bessie Puritz. Uh Both Carl and I went on into the business. Carl then and his

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friends came to my father and asked him if he would become president of the. The new academy that time it was just called the Hebrew Academy. These were parents from various branches of Judaism who said that if the um rabbis can't get together, at least we

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can do it on our own. And they did. Uh, the rabbis did not object to them. I mean, they, they understood that whereas they themselves could not make concessions, uh, the parents could make these changes in the rules and regulations, and they would go along with

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them and they would send their children to the academy. It wasn't that they wouldn't do that, it's just that they weren't going to couldn't formally agree to some of these changes. I guess aside from my father's interest in Jewish education. There was never any question but

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the fact that he was a great fundraiser. And they're recognizing that they were going to need some money to get started. It was an excellent choice. He. Rallied the community in their support and um I guess it's been in existence over 20 years now and has

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grown to where today it's uh probably 300 students and growing so it's it's doing a good job. And he was the first, uh, president of the Hebrew of Hebrew Academy, um. Who were some of the other people that might have been involved initially in, in, uh,

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supporting that and if the rabbis were not able to uh lend their official support, who were some of the other leaders that you may know? Well, the rabbis did not lend their official support, but by the fact that they didn't oppose it either, uh, they, their

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support was acknowledged, and, uh, they actually did help in, uh, in seeing to it that, you know, that people in their congregations would give funds. Um, I can't really recall anybody else that took an active part. Uh, I guess what you'd have to then go back

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to and say who were some of the families that gave money to support it, and one of the major ones was the Sosland family of Kansas City. Uh, Neilausland. What, um, I was one of the young families. Uh, who along with Carl helped organize it. And

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of course they are extremely. Philanthropically minded, give large sums of money to many things, and they were extremely helpful. I, um, you asked earlier somewheres maybe before we started how I became interested in this, and of course I think the obvious answer is that I became

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interested because my father. Was interested and he sort of pushed me along. uh I, I started. Being active in the Jewish community immediately upon my return from service in World War II. Uh, I guess that was. 1946. And, um. The first area was, uh, the synagogue

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again, where we were, um. In order to Interest young couples who are returning from service, we started the young couples Club. And, uh, over the years. And and up until the present time I went through all of the various organizations and committee chairs and ultimately became

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president of the congregation myself. About 15 years ago, I guess. So it's about 1972 or 1903 I think that I was president there. The other direction then was in the general community and uh I started in the um. Jewish vocational service. Uh, since I at that

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point was, uh, the factory manager for our plant, it was, uh, a logical kind of a. Of a selection for the Jewish vocational service to come to me and ask me to serve on the board and to be part of their employment committee, uh, they were

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doing this with any number of people so that the people who were coming in from Europe would be able to get placed and, and be put on, on various jobs, and the sewing industry was one of the industries at that time that was a logical kind

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of a, uh, of a beginning point for a lot of the people who were coming here. I, uh, threw that. Organization then became interested in the Jewish Federation itself and started working in some of its committees and uh 25 years ago perhaps uh was asked to

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chair the committee that would do a study on whether or not we needed a Jewish education council. In the community The study took 4 years. Because again it was a uh a question from a couple of directions. First of all, would the congregations, if they wouldn't

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get, couldn't get along together in. A day school, would they be able to get along together in the organizing of a single educational board bureau. Uh, secondly, there were a number of people in the community who felt that it was strictly the responsibility of the synagogues

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and that community money should not have to be spent for Jewish education. The synagogues should be taking care of that element of it on their own. Uh, it took 4 years of effort to get everybody to agree that it would be. If we wanted the Jewish

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community to thrive, we had to teach our youngsters why they're Jewish and how to be Jewish. And it was on that basis that we finally got approval and started the education council and then after that 4 years of effort I was chairman of the Jewish Education

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Council for the 1st 4 years of its organization. So from that point on, um. Jewish education was an important part of my, my thoughts. Uh, I had been chairman of the school committee of, uh, Beth Shalom, the congregation that I was a part of. The um

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When my father passed away, uh, they turned to Karl Puritz. And who is the continues to be the president of the Hebrew Academy and uh because of our very close working relationship and um. Close family relationship and personal friendship, uh, I've helped, helped him in doing

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some of the fundraising for the uh academy as it's been needed. At what time was the Hebrew Academy renamed? Shortly after my father's death, so it was about like 10 or 12 years ago. Um, you mentioned your involvement going back to, uh. The vocational service and.

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Was that formed? I know you told me earlier, I didn't jot the date down, but was that formed during the 40s, the early 40s, during the war? I'd say the late 40s, the late 40s. Yeah, it was really organized right after the war, perhaps 48 or

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49. Uh, when the need arose. Originally, the, um, The refugees who were coming in were handled through the Jewish Family and Children's Service. They would be brought in and, uh, Housing would be made available for them and uh there were needs for language classes so that

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they could learn English. But then the Jewish Family and Children's Service quickly realized that they were not uh capable, uh, didn't have the expertise in job placement. So it was then decided that you needed another element and job placement was that element, and that's when the

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vocational service. Where did most of the refugees come from? Was it from any particular part of Europe, um. At that time, I'd say the, of course, you know, they came out of the concentration camps and I would say that the bulk of them that came to

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Kansas City probably were Polish in origin. Uh, there are Fewer, but there are some Germans, uh, who were German originally in origin and some Russians. But I would think the bulk was Polish. This right, um, you have another group entering the Jewish community. The Kansas City

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Jewish community up to this time was primarily German and Russian. The original Jewish community of Kansas City was primarily German, primarily German, and then just maybe a few Russians with the 1890s. Yes, but not, not too many, too many, not in Kansas City. All right, so

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you had the Polish group coming in. How How do, how are they accepted by this community that is very much amalgamated within the Kansas City? Society. The early German community, German Jewish community of Kansas City had become highly integrated already by the twenties and they found

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it difficult to accept the ones who were coming in in the twenties, uh, who were the middle European Jews. And that's really why there were almost two distinct groups, uh, within the community. They were pretty well divided in congregations. Uh, the German Jewish community. Ran the

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Alfred Benjamin Dispensary, which became the Jewish Family and Children's Service supporting the Middle European Jews who were coming in. So they were already. Uh I don't wanna, I, I'll use it, but I don't want to use the word superior, but they were already of uh of

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a stature economically that, uh, they really couldn't absorb them into the, the German community, the German Jewish community. Uh, it had to be a much later development. It was really after World War II. When economically, that class of people became secure through some of the um.

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Occupations that they entered that they were finally accepted into the other community. I'm sorry. So, so you had the Polish Jews that's right. So they, you're talking about after World War 2, after World War 2, the, the refugee Jew who was coming, how does he and

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she. Uh, Fit into this whole Jewish community which, as you said, has a two-prong existence already. Um, They were first of all you had that that middle European group here in the city who had great empathy for these people because they were coming from the same

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areas where they had, where their families had come from. And um. The Acceptance early on was a little difficult until these people began to establish themselves in the community through also uh opening up their own plants, becoming a little bit more financially uh stable. It was,

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it, it wasn't as difficult as the. Middle European community breaking into the German Jewish community. It didn't take nearly the length of time for the other communities to be absorbed, but there was an early problem. Uh, not quite as, as great. Uh, I'm gonna mention something

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here in order to, uh, To take a little bit of a diversion just for a minute. And that is that um. In the original German hospital, which became Research Hospital. When it was first organized, I had a number of Jewish doctors, German Jewish doctors on it

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because it was a German hospital and it was not a religious order. Uh, that hospital then of course became research hospitals. And was one of the few non-sectarian hospitals in the city, and they asked me to join their board. In 1963. And I've been on their

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board ever since I became president of the hospital and uh right now vice chairman of the research health services and so I've been actively interested in that organization as well. One of the very, if not the only one of the very few non-sectarian, not for profit

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hospitals in the city. Um, Maybe to pick up on what Doctor Robinson was asking about. Incorporating a new group of immigrants into the city and your role with the education council, um. What expectations for Jewish education did the new Groups have, would this have presented any

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new, new problem for education, Jewish education in Kansas City or, or not? No, it didn't present a new problem. The problems existed and that's why the organization came into existence, uh. Jewish education is extremely Difficult, um. Primarily because, let me, let me start over again. The

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day school program is extremely successful. You have an integration of the uh public school programs of, of all of the arts sciences along with the Hebrew program. The, the problem, and of course that wasn't in existence when the education council started, but the problem with the

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um. The afternoon schools of the synagogues is that they usually occur after the full day of public school. And then the children have to be transported and stay there from perhaps 4:30 to 6:30 in the evening. Uh, teaching 6 hours a week. Either 2 afternoons on

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a Sunday or a Saturday. And it's extremely difficult for the youngsters. Uh, the afterschool programs in the schools themselves become. Uh, competitive with the Hebrew school. I mean, are they gonna be part of the baseball team or the soccer team or the band or, or, or

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are they gonna go to Hebrew school? Also doing it that way, you don't have the opportunity to have full-time teachers, so you really have part-time teachers and the quality of the teachers are never good enough. I mean you have to be a really good teacher to

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teach two additional hours after the kids have been in school 7 or 8, so that one of the needs was to have an education council that that could try to do teacher training, try to improve curriculum. Uh, try to make the afternoon school, um, more acceptable

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to the parents, to the youngsters, and, uh, raise not only the image but the quality. I It's only been up to this point, it's still only been partially successful because the problem is they're the same problem. I have another direction to take here if you want

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to for a minute, uh, and that is a continuation of where the Jewish community has. The direction that it's going in at the present time. Uh, demographically, the Jewish community shifted. The, the from. The Missouri side to the Kansas side, there are no ghetto areas in

00:37:16.120 - 00:37:38.520

the Jewish community. Of Kansas City. But there are definite areas, there, there's zip code areas where the Jewish community lives. Uh, at one time when we first moved to Kansas City, it was around Lynwood and sale. And uh Beth Shalom was there. Bene Yehuda is on

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Linwood. Uh, there were a lot of small congregations there. The Jewish Community Center was, I believe, on Tracy and Lynnwood, so that the entire community was, was located there. It gradually moved south, but staying on the Missouri side. Uh, the Jewish Community Center moved to about

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eighty-third and Holmes. The, uh, geriatric center moved out in that same area. Uh, Bestial Rome moved to 95th near State Line. Warnell. Uh, all of the congregations were going in that direction, and that occurred in about a twenty-year period and then 20 years later now. We

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our population at the present time is about 55% on the Kansas side, southwest and about 45% on the Missouri side, but the families with children are about 80% on the Kansas side and about 20% on the Missouri side, so that the Missouri side's population is made

00:38:40.320 - 00:38:59.540

up of. Uh, empty nesters to a very great extent. Or some singles that live around the plaza, but very few live north of the plaza area. Well. You know, what did this do to the Jewish community? We had to close down buildings and build new buildings.

00:38:59.899 - 00:39:21.399

The Jewish Community Center then that was on eighty-third and Hols suddenly uh began to lose membership. It was too far to drive from Mission and Ninety-fifth. Or any area there back to eighty-third and Holmes. Uh, It, it started financially to lose a lot of money. The

00:39:21.399 - 00:39:39.879

Jewish community had to support it and at one point about 5 or 6 years ago, made the determination that we had to close it down. Incidentally, uh, it was at about that point that I became president of the Jewish Federation. And uh we decided then that

00:39:39.879 - 00:39:57.620

we would do a demographic study in order to determine whether or not it was. A new center was needed. If so, where the location should be and how should we proceed uh on the building of one. At the conclusion of the demographic study, we had an

00:39:57.620 - 00:40:24.020

area wherein we said yes, we needed it. And uh. There was a radius that was drawn around uh about Metcalf and ninety-fifth, which is of course impossible to uh to buy property at. And 4 very philanthropically minded families donated 40 acres of land at about 115th

00:40:24.020 - 00:40:46.449

between Lamar and Noll. We then determined that we ought to build a new Jewish community campus at that location, and the reason that we took that direction of trying to concentrate our organizations into one location was that the Hebrew Academy, which is on College Boulevard close

00:40:46.449 - 00:41:04.270

to Lamar. Had expanded beyond the walls of the building it was in. Reached the point where it needed a gym. They had, they had taken over a school, but the school they had really had a social hall area, not a gymnasium. Uh, the kitchen became inadequate.

00:41:04.489 - 00:41:17.530

So if we needed to build a new gymnasium with a swimming pool for a school that was expanding to the point where it needed one, why build two gymnasiums, one for the center, one for the, let's put it all together in one location. We could do

00:41:17.530 - 00:41:42.340

this again because the academy was a community effort. It was not a single synagogue effort or temple effort. So we began the construct of planning at that time of a center that would house the various organizations of the community. It will open in a month or

00:41:42.340 - 00:41:58.020

two. Uh, the academy will start its school year on August 29th there. If you went there today, you wouldn't see how they begin, but the chairman of the building committee assures me that it will happen, uh, and the center will open in about 60 days. So

00:41:58.020 - 00:42:24.580

the academy is also moving to that location. The Academy is moving to that location. Uh, the. The center has a daycare program that begins with, uh, toddlers and goes up to kindergarten. Which will still be run by the Jewish Community Center. But the building is uh

00:42:24.580 - 00:42:53.939

all under one roof. And it is like next door to where the academy is. will be located. And it'll share The entire complex will share kitchen facilities, social halls. The, the gymnasium. Arts and crafts rooms, dancing studio type rooms, uh, there'll be club rooms for the

00:42:53.939 - 00:43:14.489

youth of the community and. It's hoped that um. It will be a focus for the entire Jewish community. It will be open to the entire public because it does receive funds from the United Ways for some of its programming. It would be open anyhow to the,

00:43:14.590 - 00:43:40.860

to the community and the old centers all were. But it's um. It's anticipated that it will um. Be a focus for a lot of the work that we're trying to do. Yeah, the Jewish Federation offices, are they not downtown now? They would, yeah, but also they'll

00:43:40.860 - 00:43:59.260

be there. It will have all of the Federation offices, the Jewish Community Relations Bureau office, uh, the Menorah Hospital will have a presence there in a clinic. Jewish Community relations. Can I say that, I think I said that one. Bureau will be, the Jewish vocational Service

00:43:59.260 - 00:44:21.770

will be there. The Jewish Family and Children's Service will have an office there. So that every one of the Jewish organizations, whether they're completely there or not, will at least have a presence on the campus. One of the reasons. One of the reasons that the demographic

00:44:21.770 - 00:44:46.770

study. Pointed Out that convinced us that we really needed the campus. Was the um Degree of intermarriage that was occurring in Kansas City. Um, We are, I may be 1% or 2 off now because it's been 2 or 3 years since these numbers came out, but

00:44:46.770 - 00:45:16.969

I, we'll. Our last 10-year history showed an intermarriage rate of 56%. The, uh, approximately 1/3 of the families, the Jewish families in Kansas City. Had a spouse who was not born of the Jewish faith, some of whom had converted. But out of A total population of

00:45:16.969 - 00:45:51.679

22,100, 3000 of those individuals. Uh, professed either another religion or no religion. So that the actual population is about 19,000. Our last demographic study was taken about 10 years earlier. It sort of predicted this direction. Uh, I don't think that. We anticipated a greater shrinkage. I'd

00:45:51.679 - 00:46:06.429

say the only reason we don't have it is because we're still considering, and I think it's probably true that if a single spouse of the family is Jewish, that there is a Jewish tie to the community and in most cases there is, especially if, if the

00:46:06.429 - 00:46:34.300

woman is Jewish, then the children for the most part are probably being raised as Jews. This high intermarriage rate. Unique to Kansas City. As opposed to, say, New York or Boston. Without a doubt, as compared to New York or Boston. The further west you go, Denver

00:46:34.300 - 00:46:55.669

has a higher intermarriage rate. Los Angeles, probably a little less, but there's a much larger Jewish community there. San Francisco is extremely high. So that in that regard we're not considered a midwestern community, we're considered a Western community in in that. Yeah. How, how is this,

00:46:55.929 - 00:47:21.840

uh, getting back to the educational, um. responsibilities to Help young people understand what it means to be a Jew. Um, does this have an impact on, on that, on, on the education, or, or does it? Has, has, has this changed? Has this demographic graphic made a

00:47:21.840 - 00:47:46.320

change in the approach to education? Or I, I don't think it has uh. What we're hoping that the that the campus idea will do. Is, um. It first of all it's located now in a, in a in an area, an area that is more accessible to

00:47:46.320 - 00:48:12.040

most of the younger Jewish families. Uh, therefore, we are hoping that the academy. Census, their, their population will increase. And in that regard, then the intensive Jewish education they get there will be. Uh, beneficial at least to the, to the total Jewish community. It's reached the

00:48:12.040 - 00:48:28.629

point where you can't bring a Jewish professional into the community unless you have a day school. A rabbi certainly would not come to a community if his children wouldn't have a day school for them to get an education because The integration that occurs in a public

00:48:28.629 - 00:48:55.580

school is, uh, it's great in one sense. Do we have time? Sure, OK. Talk about philosophy here a little bit, if you don't mind. Um Back in the 40s, in the late 40s, when I. Came out of service. The, the emphasis that my age group had

00:48:56.239 - 00:49:17.239

was to be accepted into the general community of Kansas City. We were still not, the Jews were still not permitted in, in social clubs. They were not permitted in, in the downtown clubs. Uh, there was a severe restriction and our effort was, our concentration we felt

00:49:17.239 - 00:49:38.929

had to be in the area of becoming generally accepted to the, to the general community. And All of us who were community minded made that effort. Whether it was uh. even though we worked, let's say in the, in the general Jewish community, we made an effort

00:49:38.929 - 00:49:58.149

to do something outside of it. A number of people in the direction of uh Boy Scouts. I picked on the direction of um a research hospital. Uh, but each of us sort of tied without, without it being a planned approach, but we sort of tied ourselves

00:49:58.149 - 00:50:17.189

into doing things in the general community as well as the Jewish community. And gradually, of course the law held, but gradually the acceptance came because people got to know us a little bit better, OK. But we were so successful in doing that. That our children didn't

00:50:17.189 - 00:50:38.600

have the problem. And therefore, the uh. After the awareness that you were Jewish no longer occurred. When my children went to public school, the day school wasn't in existence at that time, uh, they didn't have a problem as to who their friend was when they went

00:50:38.600 - 00:50:58.149

away to college. My son called home and asked if he, if I cared whether he joined a non-Jewish fraternity. I mean, it just wasn't, it was no longer an issue. Well, we reached the point of having Gotten ourselves so well accepted that 56% of our people

00:50:58.149 - 00:51:19.889

now intermarry. And There's a feeling at least among some of us, not all of us feel the same way, but among some of our community, the Jewish community, that we need this center so that we can refocus. Uh, our youth back into uh. Recognizing that they

00:51:19.889 - 00:51:43.510

are Jewish, that their friends can be Jewish, that there's a worthwhileness to the continuity of the uh traditions. Of our faith, one of the issues that I've Read about a couple of issues. Uh, one particular way it has to do with teaching in Hebrew or teaching

00:51:43.810 - 00:52:09.850

not just teaching Hebrew but teaching in Hebrew, um, has that. Um, I know that's been an issue at some. Synagogues or the temples more than others and was apparently an issue at Bene Yehuda at one point, but has that been an issue even now with with

00:52:09.850 - 00:52:32.590

the Hebrew Academy? Is that a new uh No, I mean. The youngsters come out of the academy now literate probably in 3 languages, maybe 4 if they go through high school. 1, of course, English, 2, Hebrew, 3, the computer, and uh 4, if they take a

00:52:32.590 - 00:52:48.540

foreign language. But no, the, the Hebrew part of it is, uh is no longer a problem. Uh, first of all, uh, the state of Israel has established that Hebrew is a language. So that it's no longer just a religious language, it is a living language, and

00:52:49.530 - 00:53:06.189

Uh, that, that's, I think, readily acceptable today. Uh, and, and the fact that they teach some subjects in Hebrew does not diminish the fact that they teach a lot of them still in English. I, if I can tell you one brief story, uh, my, uh, I

00:53:06.189 - 00:53:24.060

have an 8-year-old, uh, granddaughter who's just completed 2nd grade at the academy. And uh when we drive in the car together, she likes to sit in the front seat next to me, thank goodness, and we play word games. So after playing some word games with. Antonyms

00:53:24.060 - 00:53:40.260

and synonyms. I asked her if she knew what a homonym was, and she said no, so I explained to her that it's two words that sound the same but have different meanings, and she says, oh, you mean a homophone? Well, I've learned that I don't question

00:53:40.260 - 00:53:53.830

her. I went, I went back and I looked up the word in the dictionary to make sure I was right or wrong, and I found out that they are synonymous. But, but I think that's just an illustration that they are learning the English language as well

00:53:53.830 - 00:54:12.449

as learning Hebrew. You know. Uh, I guess I'm starting to feel like you were at the very beginning before we started the interview that there's so many directions that, that um you might be able to, to go and discuss, um, and we may want to do

00:54:12.449 - 00:54:29.129

this some more if you, you would be interested in the future, but there's another, uh, you've mentioned several of the organizations you've been involved in and been the head of as president or chair of in one form or another. Um, you also have been involved, have

00:54:29.129 - 00:54:48.149

you not, with the Judaic studies program at the University of Missouri at Kansas City? Would you perhaps, uh, Share some of your background with that and your interest in that and how that's developed. I had an interest from the early stages of it, I, if I

00:54:48.149 - 00:55:07.550

can recall correctly, I don't think I was on the committee at the very beginning of it, uh, but it was determined that what we ought to do is establish a chair of Jewish studies. At what was then Kansas City University. Uh, and the Jewish community managed

00:55:07.550 - 00:55:30.469

to acquire some, uh, substantial foundation grants from some of our wealthier individuals who are interested in that. And hired uh Joe Schultz, professor Schultz, Rabbi Schultz, uh to be the uh head of that department. Uh, he has worked out very well and he's still here today.

00:55:32.360 - 00:55:50.989

It's been a successful program to a certain extent. But uh I would have to say in my opinion not as successful as we would have liked to have seen. And the thing that that happened again was demographics. When we established the program there. A lot of

00:55:50.989 - 00:56:19.100

the youngsters, the Jewish youngsters who lived in Kansas City. Went to UMKC or Uh, the University of Missouri as it, as it changed. As the population shifted and moved over to the Kansas side, the Jewish population at. Uh, UMKC is much, much smaller. And even though

00:56:19.100 - 00:56:40.669

some of the students who take these courses are not Jewish, obviously the uh the greater uh. Degree of interest would be among Jewish students so that the program hasn't flourished. I, I would have to judge as well as perhaps it might now uh KU has the

00:56:40.669 - 00:57:04.929

bulk of our. Students who don't go away to school. And, um, We are trying to do some developing in the area of of building a program over there. Sharon Lowenstein is part of their administration and I think part of their faculty. Rabbi Margulies teaches courses there

00:57:04.929 - 00:57:29.959

now. Uh, and, uh, gradually it's growing. What would have been your. Your, your expectation though for the one at UMKC uh. Well, what we would have liked to have seen is a growth in, uh, the number of people who were taking the courses there so that

00:57:29.959 - 00:57:51.979

we could build up. Uh, the staff, the faculty, and have a larger uh program going. We tried at one point, tried to build their library, uh, saying that if we were really gonna have a serious Group of students who were even hopefully going to go on

00:57:51.979 - 00:58:10.929

to um. Graduate degrees that they would need a library there to work from. So we were, we began to build one. Uh, it became fairly obvious after a while that we just weren't going to achieve it. Was this because of the demographics? Yeah, we think so.

00:58:11.909 - 00:58:37.320

We think so. The, the, uh, administration at UMKC has been extremely cooperative and very helpful. Uh, there was never a problem in that area. Um, who are some of the families though that you mentioned were, were benefactors to get this chair established and, and so forth?

00:58:38.219 - 00:58:56.889

The Loewensteins were one of the primary movers in this. Uh, Bill Lowenstein today is a, a descendant of, of that family and still actively interested in the program. Sharon Lowenstein, his wife, now though is at KU because that's I guess where more of the action is.

00:58:57.800 - 00:59:30.020

Um, There was a danzig foundation. Dancing Foundation. Um, and that also established a fund. Abe Kaplan. Uh, has a, a fund there as well. It's uh Cape fabrics on the plasm. What was your own particular role in in that whole Jewish studies, Judaic studies? Well, there

00:59:30.020 - 00:59:53.080

was a period of maybe 6 to 8 years where I chaired the committee. The committee was one that was jointly. Jointly, the, the members came from both UMKC and from the Jewish community. And so the committee itself, the chairman was of the Jewish community side, was

00:59:53.080 - 01:00:12.669

appointed at the federation level. And because of my interest in the uh in education, I was asked to chair it for a while. And then when I became president of the federation, I Passed it along to uh someone else someone else. Are you, uh, you know,

01:00:12.790 - 01:00:33.040

you're still on the, you're still involved with research hospital. That would be your major, uh, one of your major, uh, positively, I think I've only had, uh, 3 meetings, 4 meetings this week there. Uh, yeah, I. I'm vice chairman of the Research Health Services and I

01:00:33.959 - 01:00:59.199

Presume chairman elect of the uh that's the parent corporation of the of the whole thing. That's 26 years of. Of work. I think I have somewhere between 8 to 10 meetings a month. That's just the, just the hospital. I'm wondering if uh. I, I can see

01:00:59.199 - 01:01:17.189

now, as I said a few minutes ago, why there's so many areas that we could focus on, um. I'm wondering if we could, uh, digest what we've heard today and, uh, maybe give you a call again sometime and maybe focus on 11 other area or something

01:01:17.189 - 01:01:27.790

even to get more details. Would that be, uh, fine if, if you find it interesting, yeah, it'd be OK. OK. Do you have any other, uh, areas that.