The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton has hired Brian Kerstine of Liberty Township as the executive director of Jewish Family Services. Brian most recently served as director of business development and as a career coach with JVS Career Services in Cincinnati. He previously owned Gymboree Play & Music of Cincinnati and has worked in ad sales for national radio and print media. Brian received his bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies from Butler University. He and his wife, Liz, are the parents of young adults Elise, Issac, and Carly.

The Yellow Springs High School and Middle School Fearless Thespians will present the play The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Lorrie Sparrow-Knapp, Jan. 15 to 17 at the John Legend Theater in Springfield. Playing the role of Anne Frank will be Maggie Bullock, daughter of Elyssa and Ben Bullock. At each performance, Yellow Springs Schools Arts Boosters will collect new and gently worn used shoes for those in need.

Playwright Michael London will present the first reading of his new one-person play, Varian, at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29 at the Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education. The play is about American writer and editor Varian Fry’s time in Vichy France during World War II. There, he helped rescue anti-Nazis and Jews, including artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst, writer and poet André Breton, and philosopher Hannah Arendt. Varian is the second play in Michael’s A Resilience Trilogy series. The first was Anschel, based on the book Anschel’s Story by Renate Frydman. Funding for the development of Varian came from the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Innovation Grant program.

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

To read the complete January 2026 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.