Book Review by Julia M. Klein, The Forward Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery by Richard Kreitner • Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 416 pages, $32 The central thesis of Richard Kreitner’s Fear No Pharaoh is unsurprising: In the 19th century, American Jews,

UCLA Prof. of Religion Simon J. Joseph will lead the 46th Annual Ryterband Symposium in Judaic Studies, with two programs Wednesday, March 11 at United Theological Seminary. Joseph specializes in early Judaism and Christian origins; he has published on topics including the emergence of the early Jesus tradition and its

By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz, Temple Beth Sholom, Middletown There are many Jewish holidays throughout the year, and most of them have a component that is geared toward teaching our children about Judaism. For example, we build a physical booth on Sukkot that teaches us what it was like to live

Joseph Efraim Davis will celebrate his bar mitzvah on March 14 at Beth Jacob Congregation. Joey is the son of Rich Davis and the late and beloved Susan Jacobs Davis. He is the brother of Jake Davis. He is the grandson of Rachel Jacobs and the late Steven Jacobs of

Judith Raanan, who with her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, were the first hostages Hamas released, Oct. 20, 2023, will share her story of survival, hope, and faith at Chabad’s Mega Challah/Babka Bake for women and girls, 7 p.m., Thursday, March 19. A dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who lives in Evanston, Ill., she

Temple Beth Or will present its Annual Corned Beef Lunch fundraiser 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 10. All orders must be preordered at templebethor.com/corned-beef. Lunch orders feature 1/3-pound Carnegie Deli corned beef or Mrs. Goldfarb’s Unreal Corned Beef (plant-based) on rye, with cole slaw, a pickle, brownie, and beverage for

In the News series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Nearly 30% of Americans Say Mental Health Struggles Are Blocking 2026 Goals, New Talkspace Study Finds. Feeling Adrift Drives Anxiety, Depression in Young Adults. For teens, the loneliness epidemic is not a myth. Millennials, Gen

Look for Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site!     To read the complete March 2026 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.

‘To be a hostage does not define me’ By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer “I told myself that I’m a dead man. So every second, every minute, every hour, every day, it will be a gift. So that was my technique. And you never lose the hope. You cannot,”

Anti-Israel vandalism at her school led Ruth Glaser to start a Jewish Student Union there. She’s now a national Zionist youth activist. Interview by Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Ruth Glaser, 17, has a message for Dayton’s Jewish community. “There are people in the younger generation of Jews who