Latest news with #JewishFederationofGreaterKansasCity
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hundreds gather in Overland Park to mourn woman killed in shooting outside D.C. Jewish museum
Hundreds of somber faces lined a room of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City Thursday evening to mourn a 26-year-old Johnson County woman and her boyfriend who were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. 'It's one thing to see the images on the news, or hear stories from across the globe. This was personal. Sarah was ours,' President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City Jay Lewis said. Sarah Lynn Milgrim and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky, were staff members at the Israeli Embassy. The couple, who planned on getting engaged soon, Milgrim's father, Robert Milgrim, told the Star, were leaving an event Wednesday evening when 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, of Chicago, allegedly opened fire. After being taken into custody by a security guard, Rodriguez allegedly chanted, 'Free Palestine, free Palestine,' Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters. 'It's difficult to just even know where to put it' Milgrim was from Johnson County and graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School in 2017. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 2021 with a degree in environmental science. She met Rabbi Neil Schuster while at college. 'Going to sleep to the news was bad enough, but waking up to the particulars of it, it's difficult to just even know where to put it, what to do with it,' Schuster said. Milgrim was part of KU Hillel, a Jewish organization at the university. Schuster was the senior Jewish educator of the group, while Milgrim served on the board of directors. The pair took two trips to Israel together and participated in campus Judaism events, Schuster said. 'Because she was just a beautiful soul, and there was so much there inside of her with a light, that when you figured out where the switch was, it just glowed,' Schuster said. Schuster left the crowd with the message that 'love is a powerful thing.' 'But we need more than just being together. We need to give ourselves permission to feel the love that's there, to feel the love that we feel toward each other, toward the people in this room,' Schuster said. He said those in the room should lean on one another. 'The love of friendship is one of the most powerful kinds of love,' Schuster said. 'She was the ultimate peacemaker' Amanda Birger met Milgrim when the pair attended the University of Kansas together. 'She had a lot of passions, and she was involved in so many activities, in addition to her always completely full course load. But she never would call herself 'spread too thin,' she always seemed to have the capacity to take on everything that life threw at her, and she still sought out more,' Birger said. Birger described Milgrim as a 'fiercely loyal friend' with strong Jewish values and a love for the environment and animals. Milgrim was the 'ultimate peacemaker,' Birger said. 'She was very tactful about how she used her voice, which sometimes came off as cautious, but when it looked like she wasn't speaking up, it's because she was trying to keep the peace,' Birger said. Milgrim's job at the Israeli Embassy was hard, Birger said, but was made easier by her boyfriend's presence and a sense that she was making a difference. 'Even though she was faced with ignorant people and awful images and really difficult work, she stayed to help innocent people and to help our community,' Birger said. Birger remembers Milgrim as a woman who 'stood proudly' in her faith. 'She made me want to be more Jewish,' Birger said. 'I came to Hillel looking for friends, but meeting Sarah showed me how someone my age, who was smart and funny and kind, could live a joyful Jewish life while also doing everything else she wanted.' Birger encouraged those in the room to stand proudly in their faith, 'and don't let hateful ignorance reduce your Jewish life.' The Star's Eric Adler and Nathan Pilling contributed reporting to this story.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
JCC holds vigil for local DC Jewish Museum shooting victim
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Hundreds packed the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park Thursday night for a vigil honoring victims of the Capital Jewish Museum shooting, . The local Jewish community is no stranger to hate and violence and has seen it before with the shooting that killed three in 2014, two on the Jewish Community Center campus, a third victim killed at nearby Village Shalom. But when people found out who one of the victims was in Washington D.C. they say it hit directly in their hearts. Local Jewish community reacts to Sarah Milgrim killing: 'A moment of pain' Friends say Sarah Milgrim learned to stick up for Jewish values when her high school, Shawnee Mission East, was the target of an antisemitic vandalism attack in 2017. She'd go on to KU where she joined the executive board of KU Hillel while still a student. Staff spent Thursday sharing memories. 'All of them shared there was a moment that it clicked in which she was able to convey that this was a priority for her and her Jewish community and identity and caring about the community around her was important,' Ethan Helfand, KU Hillel, said. 'She stood out as someone who shone as a bright light, who went on to great things in her all too short life,' Derek Gale, Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City vice president said. Milgrim was killed Wednesday night outside the museum along with boyfriend Yaron Lischinsky. At a packed vigil Thursday Milgrim's college roommate described Lischinsky as intelligent and empathetic after meeting him. She shared how Milgrim knew he planned to ask her to marry her after she met his family on an upcoming trip to Israel. They met working at the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. Search underway in south central Kansas for missing Overland Park woman 'She was the ultimate peacemaker in her personal life and her professional life. Her whole life was devoted toward promoting peace in Israel,' friend Amanda Berger said. A peace Jewish community members say they hope will come, but for now they are grieving yet another tragedy hitting close to home. 'Tomorrow we can talk about resilience, tomorrow we can talk about healing, tomorrow we can try to make sense of this tragedy and maybe even talk about hope. All we can do tonight is come together to mourn, cry and hug each other,' Jay Lewis, Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City President, told the crowd that gathered. 'It will take time, we'll move forward together. We are taking this time to really grieve and mourn, but we'll heal together,' Gale said. Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android Attendees included former Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Johnson County Commission Chairman Mike Kelly and Maor Elbaz-Starinksy, the Consul General of the State of Israel, who flew in to be with the grieving Kansas City-area community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
