If you have ever had the chance to float on the Dead Sea supported by its salty waters, you now have the opportunity to support the Dead Sea. The unique body of water is a finalist in an international competition, to be named as one of the New Seven Wonders

Sarah Y. Alpert, age 86 of Dayton, passed away Oct. 6. Mrs. Alpert was a member of Temple Israel and Hadassah. She was preceded in death by her husband, Murray. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Ann and Paul Prichard; daughter Janice Linda Alpert; five grandchildren, Joseph

Dayton Jewish Observer columnist Candace R. Kwiatek has received the Religion Newswriters Association’s Gerald A. Renner Enterprise second-place award for her 2010 series in The Observer on The Ten Commandments. The first-place recipient was Tony Carnes of A Journey Through NYC Religions website. The third-place recipient of this award was New

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Cantor Joyce Dumtschin, who was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndrome in 2009, is scheduled to receive a stem cell transplant at James Cancer Hospital in Columbus on Sept. 27, the day before the eve of Rosh Hashanah. “Only 30 percent of people who need

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer For the first time in 57 years, Beth Jacob Synagogue will not have a Rabbi Fox on the bima. In a letter to the Traditional congregation’s members dated Aug. 22, synagogue President Dr. Herman I. Abromowitz announced that Beth Jacob’s board voted on

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer This fall, Dayton’s harvest of live theatre yields three Jewish-oriented productions: Neil Simon’s familiar Lost In Yonkers, the rarely performed Abie’s Irish Rose, and the musical Caroline, Or Change. Richard Brock, director of Abie’s Irish Rose, says he’s tried for years to get

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Judy Grampp, a paramedic who works in the ER at Good Samaritan Hospital, lost her 31/2-year-old grandson, Joey Cross, to Tay-Sachs disease on Oct. 17, 2010. Grampp is now the driving force behind an educational panel for the community about Tay-Sachs and other

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer With results of the Jewish Federation’s online community survey and focus groups in hand, Federation’s strategic planning committee has launched three work groups to devise strategies to improve Federation’s performance based on community priorities. Those priorities as indicated in the survey and focus

Non-Jews help bring music to temples on High Holy Days and Shabbat Non-Jews hired to perform liturgical music for liberal Jewish congregations is not unusual. But the stories of those who come to do it and why they continue are unique. By Renate Frydman, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

Author wrestles with challenges, rewards of Sabbath By Michelle Tedford, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Judith Shulevitz tells stories. There are ones about her father, who would take his children on Saturdays to the movies against the wishes of their mother, a rabbi. And there are recent stories, like