Twins Eli and Ethan Greenberg, seniors on Centerville High School’s varsity boys basketball team, both signed on Nov. 13 to play basketball at Division 1 schools on full athletic scholarships. Eli will play at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., a member of the Northeast Conference. Ethan will play at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, a member of the Mountain West Conference.

Eli and Ethan were invited to play for the U.S.A. delegation to the 2025 World Maccabiah Games in Israel but had to decline because of scheduling conflicts with their schools. Eli and Ethan are grandsons of the late Stan Greenberg, who attended the University of Dayton on a full basketball scholarship. Stan was on the 1962 team, which won the National Invitation Tournament. Eli and Ethan are sons of Maribeth and Marc Greenberg and grandsons of Stanley Scott and Mary and Peter DiSalvo.

Native Daytonian Sara Klaben Avrahami, who now lives in Tel Aviv, has come up with a venture to connect Israeli artisans with customers from around the world. Sara launched Makers of Israel with nine female volunteers. “At the heart of Makers of Israel is the power of connection,” Sara says. “Our artisans have each been affected by the current war in different ways, and their stories and creations reflect their resilience.” Makers of Israel has curated a Chanukah collection featuring exclusive products such as handcrafted menorahs made of local salt threaded with indigo powder, 14-karat gold jewelry named for one of the rescued hostages, Noa Argamani, and Chanukah cards designed by displaced children. Makers of Israel customers are also able to make an optional donation to Citizen’s Kitchen, which has provided 100,000 meals to soldiers and their families as well as displaced families across Israel since Oct. 7, 2023. Sara is the daughter of Marilyn and Larry Klaben.

After five years of development and testing, Dayton native Rachel Bloom, now of the D.C. area, has launched her new business, a line of backpacks and purses with antitheft features. The idea came to her after someone opened her purse and stole her phone, ID, and credit cards when she was at a bar with friends — and the purse was on her shoulder. “I searched the bar for my belongings, and even checked ‘Find My iPhone’ to locate my phone, but by then it was too late,” she explained. “I approached various technology manufacturers and found Lockus, who got to work developing and testing our proprietary smart-anti-theft technology. We offer innovative and functional wearable technology that represents a hugely important road towards the empowerment of women around the world in our rapidly advancing society.” The name of Rachel’s business is — what else? — Rachel Bloom. Rachel’s parents are Julie and Dr. Rob Bloom.

An essay by University of Cincinnati Judaic Studies Chair Jenny Caplan, Esther Friesner’s Funny, Serious, and Seriously Funny Speculative Fiction, comprises a chapter in the anthology Jewish Women Science Fiction Writers Create Future Females: Gender, Temporality — and Yentas, to be published by Lexington Books Jan. 15. Edited by Marleen S. Barr, the book is the first essay collection devoted to Jewish women science fiction writers.

Send your Mazel Tov announcements to mweiss@jfgd.net.

To read the complete January 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.