
Mazel Tov!
Beth Jacob’s Fifth Jewish Women Inspiring Jewish Women luncheon will be held at 11 a.m., Sunday, May 4 featuring the Hon. Susan J. Dlott, Carol Graff, Linda Ohlmann Kahn, Meredith Moss Levinson, Bonnie Beaman Rice, and Mindi Dorfman-Wynne. Sarah Shmoel has been named executive director of the Hillel at

Cincinnati rabbi disinvited from rally against Nazis over support for Israel
Rabbi Ari Jun, a self-described liberal Zionist, has advocated for the Palestinians. By Sam Fisher and Lonny Goldsmith, cincyjewfolk.com When Rabbi Ari Jun learned that faith leaders were invited to speak at a rally in Cincinnati against neo-Nazis and White supremacy, he quickly responded that he would be there. As

Bark Mitzvah Boy
Look for The Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site! To read the complete April 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.

Obituaries
Jerome Kenneth (Ken) Elbaum passed on March 23. Ken was born in 1930, in Glen Cove, N.Y. to Max and Molly Elbaum. He had two sisters, Beatrice (Bea) Miller and Sylvia Richman, who predeceased him. He is survived by Lenora (Libby), his wife of 57 years. He is also survived

Survivors who wrestled with their conversions to Christianity form basis of UD assistant professor’s first book
By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer University of Dayton Religious Studies Assistant Prof. Abraham Rubin’s first book release brought him to New York for a Feb. 3 lecture at the Center for Jewish History sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute for the Study of German-Jewish History and Culture. In

Biblical scholar Robert Alter leads Judaic symposium
Prof. Robert Alter, noted for his translation of the Hebrew Bible among his more than 20 books of criticism, translation, and commentary, will present two lectures about the Hebrew Bible for the 45th Ryterband Symposium in Judaic Studies, at Wright State University, Wednesday, March 26. At 4 p.m., he’ll discuss

Purim’s timeless lesson to combat antisemitism
By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Chabad of Greater Dayton As the joyous festival of Purim approaches, we see that its themes resonate far beyond the historical narrative of Queen Esther, Mordechai, and the salvation of the Jewish people. This ancient story offers a profound blueprint for confronting antisemitism, a scourge that

American Jewish humor & survival topic of UC Judaic chair’s talk at UD
University of Cincinnati Associate Prof. and Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Chair in Judaic Studies Jennifer Caplan will present the talk, No Joke: Jewish Humor and the Survival of American Judaism, at 5 p.m., Monday, March 3, at University of Dayton’s Sears Recital Hall in the Jesse Philips Humanities Center. A

Theft of the mind
Sacred Speech Series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer In the Garden of Eden, God commanded the man, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of

Mazel Tov!
Dentist Dr. Mike Halasz has made his movie debut, thanks to FilmDayton. He plays a dentist in the feature film, The Color of the Sun, directed and written by Clint Bramlette and now airing on Amazon Prime. The crew shot the scene for the psychological thriller in Mike’s office in