By Marc Katz, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Not everybody gets to make a good part of his career drinking beer, but Josh Bernstein has managed it. He’ll be glad to tell you how when he opens the JCC’s Cultural Arts and Book Festival with a beer and brats event

By Michelle Tedford, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer In the darkest part of his life, Neil David Schwartz found reason to hope. He’s sharing that hope with others through his writing and public speaking around his memoir, What If Tomorrow Never Comes? “My mission in life is to inspire people,

The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames by Kai Bird • 2014 • Crown • 448 Pages • $26 Book Review by Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles Our idea of what spies actually do is deeply tainted by a century or so of novels

Myths and Misconceptions Series The Jewish Family Identity Forum with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer As an emergency room physician, my husband has many opportunities to mentor medical students and residents. To practice good ER medicine, he counsels that it’s not enough to establish the symptoms, examine the

Remembering Bernice and Ben Muler By Sam Heider, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Bernice and Ben Muler were, to us, like our own family. Ben was the first one we met. Our friendship goes back more than half a century ago. Bernice passed away on Aug. 30 in Hollywood,

Jewish rock musician Dan Nichols, the focus of the documentary Road To Eden, and the film’s director, Doug Passon, will attend Temple Beth Or’s screening of the movie as part of a Sukkot celebration on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 6:45 p.m. Road To Eden shows Nichols and his band, Eighteen,

By Shannon Sarna MyJewishLearning.com During the summer we all relish al fresco dining. The moment we can bring our meals outside is always a happy one, and we schedule the summer months with picnics, barbecues and rooftop cocktails as much as possible. Then the autumn arrives, and we box up

By Dasee Berkowitz, JTA JERUSALEM — My kids are the first to tell me that God does not have a body. “But how can He write us in a book of life? God isn’t like a person, Ima (Mom)!” Indeed. The image of an anthropomorphic God is rife, however, throughout

Dr. Felix Garfunkel has just self-published his memoir, From Czernowitz: A Life in Three Continents, Memories of a Survivor. In it, he relates how his childhood in Romania was shattered during the Holocaust, how he survived a ghetto, slave labor, forced marches, and ultimately, a concentration camp. He and his

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