Consolidation Anniversary Celebration – Shabbat Morning July 1

Please join us for Shabbat Morning Services on July 1 to Celebrate the 1-year Anniversary of the consolidation of Congregations Ohev Sholom and Beth Shalom.

Anatomy of a Successful Consolidation

June 26th, 2022 will hopefully be a day to remember for all former members of Congregations Beth Shalom and Ohev Sholom. A day of joy and for some a day of sadness, hopefully turning to an expression of joy. When dissecting the months prior, it became readily apparent that the catalyst for this successful process was the strong team effort of all Involved parties.

Prior to this time, both congregations tried three times unsuccessfully to consolidate their respective congregations into one cohesive viable Conservative congregation, the last attempt in 2018.

Various events occurred since that last attempt in 2018. The following events represented an absolute need, that, without, we may not have celebrated this successful consolidation.

2019

Art Federman, the president of Beth Shalom, set the stage by authorizing Harold Kaseff to resume talks with Congregation Ohev Sholom.

2020

Continuation of this process was subsequently approved by Jason Krakow, the newly elected president of Congregation Beth Shalom.
Private discussions were held with the past and current president of Ohev Sholom, Mike Silverman and Larry Gordon, respectively.
Conversations were ongoing with Larry Gordon and in the fall of 2020, he suggested and agreed to set up a strategic planning group at Ohev with the intent to develop several options including a proposed consolidation.

2021

Following months of limited activity, Congregation Ohev Sholom, on May 3rd, delivered a letter to the leadership of Congregation Beth Shalom outlining 19+ points for consideration relative to moving forward with consolidation as one of several viable options.
Beth Shalom’s Executive Committee and Board subsequently approved the proposal with minimal changes

2022

Following approval by both organizations in 2021, a Joint Task Force, comprised of Audrey Asher, Harold Kaseff, Jeffrey Katz, Joel Levine, Mike Silverman, and Debbie Sosland-Edelman met monthly until June 2nd, 2022, when the Joint Task Force accelerated to weekly meetings in anticipation of reaching the proposed date of June 26th for the vote by both congregations.
The Ohev Sholom Board approved the sale of its building to Little Owly’s early education center in May 2022, with the proceeds to be contributed to the Beth Shalom Foundation upon consolidation.

On Sunday, June 26th, both Congregations Beth Shalom and Ohev Sholom, led by presidents Jason Krakow and Mike Silverman, respectively, voted with very strong majorities to approve the consolidation, with an effective date of July 1st, 2022.

To reiterate, the strong team effort was one of the major contributing factors in reaching this consolidation. This team effort included the Clergy, Rabbi David Glickman and the other members of the clergy, Hazzan Tahl ben-Yehuda from Beth Shalom and Rabbi Beryl Padorr from Ohev Sholom, Stef Williams and Steve Berman, the Executive Directors from Beth Shalom and Ohev Sholom, respectively, Ann Karty, incoming president and Michael Abrams, the attorney providing the excellent legal counsel during the entire negotiations as well as others, too numerous to mention and last, but not the least, the congregations of Ohev Sholom and Beth Shalom.

After approximately twenty years of on-again, off-again discussions, we have reached a pinnacle point and everyone is truly to be commended as we move forward as one consolidated Conservative congregation in Kansas City.