The founder and president of Jerusalem Stone was born on a small mountain village named Malcha in Jerusalem, Israel. As a child he was very drawn to artwork spending much of him time carving highly detailed animals from wood and making art with what little medium he had. He was a poor academic student ultimately finding interest as an apprentice to be a watchmaker.

At the age of 18 he met his wife Dana who was on a youth trip with her temple from Kansas City, MO. Although he did not speak English and she barely spoke Hebrew the two spent almost her entire trip together. They wrote back and forth for years with limited communication until Sam had finished the army. After the army Sam purchased a one way ticket to see Dana having no luggage, knowledge of the language, of the culture, or means to purchase a return ticket.

Sam earned his United States citizenship and married Dana. Having no formal education Sam combine his gift with artwork and the precision of watch making to quickly gain notice among the elite in Kansas City. Before long Sam became very successful purchasing turn of the century homes and restoring them at times owning several at time.

In 1992 Sam started to have very serious neck pain. After extensive testing it was determined that life threatening surgery was necessary and there was a very high risk that he would be paralyzed from the neck down if he survived. Because the surgery was so high risk Sam had a hard time finding a doctor who would take the liability of performing it. Sam's long time friend Dr. Eric Phillips performed the surgery in Omaha, Nebraska.

Despite all odds he survived the surgery and spent the next year in bed in Kansas City. During this time in bed Sam spent much of his time watching the world news as the rock throwing in Israel began.. He wanted to take that stone in Jerusalem and bring it to those who will appreciate it and not abuse it. The thought was to take something negative and show its warmth and beauty to share with Israeli's and Palestinian's alike.

After not working for nearly two years and having a broken neck in bed Sam was able to convince his wife Dana that he had to bring that stone to America. They mortgaged their house. He was issued a neck brace and he immediately purchased tickets to Israel.

Sam and Dana met with the largest producing stone factories both Israeli and Palestinian owned, neck brace and all, and began to form great relationships that they hold still today. Since then Sam's neck has fully recovered thanks to brilliant Dr. Eric Phillips and God. He is able to make several trips to Israel each year checking on complicated orders being processed and stopping by to spend time with old friends and family.

Today Jerusalem Stone is truly a family owned company. We love what we do and our work reflects it. We are very involved in the community and have been honored to be a part of very unique projects.

Our Family...

Sam is on the left, then Rachel, Ben, Dana, and Elan.

Sam founded Jerusalem Stone and does just about everything at the shop.

Rachel has graduated top of her class and has a great full time job.

Ben has worked in the company since 2005 doing everything from working with clients to fabricating material and assisting in the shop.

Dana sells turn of the century beautiful homes in historic parts of Kansas City. She has a great deal of experience having owned and renovated with Sam several mansions including the one that Keiffer Sutherland and Julia Roberts rented from them for 3 months while they made the movie Article 99. Dana is truly a top notch realator and has received several awards for her work. Learn more about what she can offer you at http://dananachum.reeceandnichols.com/. You can also visit her facebook at www.facebook.com/dananachum

Elan is currently a student at UMKC. He is an exemplary student in the Bloch School of Business entrepreneurship program.

 

 

 

Kansas City Sister Cities

Kansas City has 13 Sister Cities. Sam Nachum is the Chair for the town of Ramla in Israel. In Nov 2008 Sam was elected to be the vice president of all of the sister Cities of Kansas City. He was then elected to be the President of the Kansas City Sister Cities in Nov 2009. The following Cities are a part of the Sister Cities of Kansas City...

Seville, Spain - Since 1967, Kurashiki, Japan - Since 1972, Morelia, Mexico - Since 1973, Freetown, Sierra Leone - Since 1974, Tainan, Taiwan - Since 1978, Xi'an, China - Since 1989, Guadalajara, Mexico - Since 1991, Hannover, Germany - Since 1993, Port Harcourt, Nigeria -Since 1993, Arusha, Tanzania - Since 1995, San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico - 1997, Ramla, Israel - Since 1998, and Metz, France - Since 2004.

The Kansas City Sister Cities is involved in many community events including the Ethnic Festical and much more. To learn more about Sister Cities Kansas City visit the web site. http://www.kcsistercities.org/

 

 

 

Let The Children Play For Peace

Let the Children Play for Peace began in the minds of Sam Nachum and Ahmed El-Sharif, two men who each grew up on opposite sides of the Gaza-Israel conflict. These two men later came to know each other through a series of meetings with Kansas City Sister Cities. Despite their differing faith backgrounds, both men felt a passion to provide for the children of their hometowns. They conceived of the idea for a non-profit organization that provided recreation for the children in Sderot, Israel and Gaza. To get the project fully functioning, they contacted another mutual colleague and philanthropist, Dr. Gary Morsch of Heart-to-Heart International. A group of nearly 40 individuals have met on a monthly bases since March 2009. The sucess the group is having in collecting toys and funds for the children of Sterot and Gaza is great. People from all faiths and communities have come together to help our effort. If you would like to learn more about how you can help visit the web site http://www.letthechildrenplayforpeace.org/

From left to right of photo :

Sam Nachum, Gary Morshe, Achmad El-Shariff, Nick Awad