By Michael Fox Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Palestinian writer-director Sameh Zoabi achieves something altogether remarkable with his second feature film, particularly at this moment in time: He finds humor in the tattered relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. “The whole idea of Tel Aviv on Fire is that we

By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz Temple Beth Sholom, Middletown The word commencement is a noun, which is defined as a beginning or a start. It is also used when referencing a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred on graduating students. Doesn’t that seem contradictory? Those who are graduating and

With Scott Halasz, The Dayton Jewish Observer Sammy Caruso showed the importance of donating blood by using his creativity — and his veins. The recent Oakwood High School graduate was one of five $1,000 scholarship winners in the 2020 Community Blood Center/Vectren Lead The Way Scholarship competition. Sammy, the son

A Bisel Kisel with Masha Kisel, The Dayton Jewish Observer Mukbang is not as porny as it sounds, although this genre of online entertainment is almost equally voyeuristic. Originating on South Korean television in 2010, the term is a composite of the words meokneun (to eat) and bangsong (broadcast). It

By Dr. Betsy Stone ejewishphilanthropy.com We’re all in crisis right now. Between managing work and home, facing the loss of summer camps and the diminishment of services, worrying about cutbacks in our offices, trying to teach and work and parent and manage our own feelings, Covid-19 has brought out the

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Temple Israel has canceled its Dayton Jewish Cultural Festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 9. “The health and safety of our community is our top priority,” said Courtney Cummings, Temple Israel’s music and program director. She added that the temple will hold its Oy Vey

Cyrile “Cissy” Ellison, age 88 of Kettering, passed away May 8 at Kettering Medical Center. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 55 years, Herman “Curly” Ellison; parents, Sidney and Fanny Gressel; sister, Selma Chernikoff and brothers, Yale and Philip Gressel. Mrs. Ellison is survived by her

With detailed social distancing safety procedures in place, Chabad of Greater Dayton will reopen for worship services on Shavuot, at 10 a.m., Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30. Chabad emailed information about the services and procedures this morning to those who regularly or semi-regularly attend its Shabbat and Yom

By Marshall Weiss, The Observer The Jewish Federation has set a target date of June 8 to open its JCC early childhood program and JCC summer camp, allowing staff the time to put in place all mandatory and best practices of the Ohio Department of Health’s Responsible Restart Ohio plan

With the gradual reopening of the state through the Responsible Restart Ohio plan and the Stay Safe Ohio order from Ohio’s Department of Health, Jewish Family Services reopened its transportation service the week of May 18 for medical appointments only. “We are slowly relaunching transportation and it’s going to be