You don’t have to wait until Passover to dig into Judaism’s founding liberation narrative By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer If Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings left you feeling stood up at the Tabernacle, you’re not alone. Rottentomatoes.com indicates that 72 percent of mainstream media critics have panned

Hollywood’s depiction of the Exodus spans nine decades By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Hollywood has had its share of big-budget biblical flops, but until now, the Exodus narrative has not been among them. Studios have brought Moses to the big screen sparingly, but in ways that defined the

Look for The Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site. To read the complete December 2014 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.

Beth Abraham Scholar-in-Residence Jenna Weissman Joselit’s fascination with American Jewish history & culture By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Dr. Jenna Weissman Joselit describes herself as a girl with a mission. “Whatever I do, whether it’s in the context of a scholar-in-residence weekend or a column or teaching, my

Melding worship and meditation opens a physical entrance to holiness By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer A year ago, when Courtney Cummings left her cultural arts job with Cincinnati’s JCC to become Temple Israel’s music and programming director, she began thinking about how to meet congregants’ needs in unconventional

Sideman: incitement from Palestinian leaders causing latest wave of violence By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer One day after two Palestinians from eastern Jerusalem murdered four Jews with a gun, a meat cleaver and an ax in a western Jerusalem synagogue, Israel’s consul general to the Dayton area blamed consistent

By Rabbi Hershel Spalter, Chabad of Greater Dayton Light a match and watch. The fire flares, burns down quickly, dies. Now try it again, but have a candle ready. Strike the match and put it to the wick. The flame lives. On Chanukah, Jews everywhere are lighting candles. They shine in

By Jaime Geller, JNS.org The average Chanukah sufganiya (jelly doughnut) has between 300 and 400 calories of nearly pure oil and fat. In honor of the miracle God bestowed on the Maccabees, making oil meant for just a day last eight days, the delicious donut and other traditionally oily Chanukah

Glimpsing matriarchs from the Book of Genesis Review by Michael Fox, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer A corrective of sorts to the Bible’s predominantly patriarchal view of seismic events and everyday tribal life, Lifetime’s emotion-tapping adaptation of The Red Tent fulfills one’s modest expectations for a primetime soap opera in

Myths and Misconceptions Series Jewish Family Identity Forum with Candace R. Kwiatek, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer The Torah is a revolutionary document, likely one reason our American Founders found it so appealing. In fact, Jefferson evoked the revolutionary story of the Exodus when proposing the motto “Rebellion to