
Mazel Tov!
The YWCA Dayton will honor Susan Gruenberg with its 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 25th annual Women of Influence Awards luncheon on March 9 at the Dayton Convention Center. Sue has volunteered with more than 35 nonprofits in the Dayton area including the Junior League, Daybreak, Ronald McDonald House,

Humor & hope in Bible, Jewish Christian dialogue, theme of Ryterband Symposium
Smith College Jewish Studies Prof. Joel S. Kaminsky and Hartford International University President Joel N. Lohr will lead the 43rd Annual Ryterband Symposium in Judaic Studies, Thursday, March 30 at United Theological Seminary. The symposium is co-sponsored by The University of Dayton, United Theological Seminary, and Wright State University. At

Improbable endings
The Power of Stories Series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer After Velvel didn’t return home from school, his parents discovered that he had been forcibly conscripted into the czar’s army where, for 25 years, he would also be pressured to accept baptism. Even if

How Jewish comedy found religion, from Philip Roth to ‘Broad City’
An interview with UC Judaic Studies Chair Jenny Caplan about her new book By Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA In the 2020 comedy “Shiva Baby,” a 20-something young woman shows up at a house of Jewish mourners and gently offers her condolences. When she finds her mother in the kitchen, they chat

Federation launches video for those considering move to the Miami Valley
To showcase Jewish life in the Miami Valley for those considering a move here, the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton launched a three-minute video, Are there really Jews in Dayton?, on Feb. 9 at jewishdayton.org, YouTube, and social media sites. The video, directed by native Daytonian Stephen Levinson, features members

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 March 2023 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.

Obituaries
Marilyn K. Gans passed away on the morning of Jan. 12 at the age of 91. Marilyn was born in Pittsburgh to parents Buck and Jane Krauss and sister Ruth. She attended the University of Michigan where she met her first husband, Robert Matusoff, with whom she had one son,

Keeping histories of Ohio’s small Jewish communities alive
Upper Miami Valley & Greene Co. included in volunteer’s chronicles By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Austin Reid, 26, grew up in Lancaster, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus, in Fairfield County. The Jewish congregation there, B’nai Israel, had closed a few years before he was born. “Like many

Righteous Among the Nations, Marinus Bosma dies at 97
In the Netherlands, he and his family rescued Jews from the Holocaust By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Longtime Tipp City resident Marinus Bosma — a recipient of the title Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel — died Nov. 4 at

Two possible turning points for American Jews
Opinion By Martin Gottlieb This season feels like a turning point in Jewish American history. It feels like two turning points. They are related. One involves the connection between American Jews and Israel. The other involves the connection between American Jews and America. In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu tries desperately to