By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer In mid June, the board of Hillel Academy announced it had hired Kathy and Dan Mecoli to share the Jewish day school’s full-time administrative position. Dan has been named principal and Kathy the instructional leader of Hillel, which enters this school year using

Mitzvah projects bring to life timeless Jewish values By Michelle Tedford, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer By carefully choosing the blue glass of his artwork, Tobias Cebulash captured the white swirl of a storm cloud. In the brown, the wood grain of a ship’s hull. And in the navy

By Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer In Neil Simon’s hilarious Broadway play The Odd Couple and its equally famous film and television series counterparts of the same name, the obsessively fastidious Felix and obnoxiously slovenly Oscar become roommates after their divorces. It doesn’t take long for the viewer

By Julie Wiener, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer A few weeks ago I attended a relatively small invitation-only gathering at the Upper West Side’s Congregation B’nai Jeshurun to discuss “Jewish identity, who is a Jew, membership in the Jewish community and outreach, in Israel and the Diaspora.” As you

And in tents. And on trails. And in forests. Although it may shatter stereotypes, there are plenty of Jews who take the opportunity to say goodbye to the city and venture into the wild. There they find the ideal setting to commune with friends and nature – and to also

By Rabbi Levi Simon, Chabad of Greater Dayton We have just celebrated Shavuot, the holiday that commemorates the giving of the Torah. In the Midrash, Rabbi Meir teaches that before the Holy One, Blessed Be He, gave the Torah to the Jewish nation, He asked them for a guarantor, one

Thomas Rosenberg, age 76 of Dayton, passed away June 12. Mr. Rosenberg was retired after many years of service at WPAFB. He was a proud veteran of the U.S. Army. He is survived by his beloved wife, Eva; devoted son, David; two nephews, Yehuda and Phillip Rosenberg; and cousin Note

By Dr. David M. Novick Both President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference 2011, which took place on May 22-24 in Washington, D.C. This was the largest AIPAC Policy Conference ever, with more than 10,000 delegates and 500-plus

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer As of July, Cantor Joyce Dumtschin’s position at Temple Beth Or as full-time cantor will be eliminated and she will serve the congregation in the part-time job of music specialist. Temple Beth Or President David London initially announced the board’s decision in a

Fledgling liberal Jewish congregation in Germany receives Torah from Temple Israel By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer On June 5, Deborah Tal-Rüttger’s 10-year search for a kosher Torah scroll for her small, liberal Jewish congregation in Germany came to a grand conclusion at Temple Israel. The 161-year-old Reform Dayton