Look for The Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site.       To read the complete October 2020 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.

The Synagogue Forum of Greater Dayton will present its 17-session Introduction to Judaism course on Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. via Zoom, beginning Oct. 19 and running through March 15. The annual class is open to anyone interested in Jewish learning, dialogue, and exploration. The course offers an in-depth

Bernice Ezekiel Brant died Sept. 9 in Dayton. Born in 1927 in New York City, her warm and loving family consisted of parents Lilian and Edward, and little brother David. She adored the city: roller-skating over the Washington Bridge and spending summers at Brighton Beach with her grandmother. When her

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer When a member of Dayton’s Jewish community posted a photo on Facebook Sept. 16 of an antisemitic sticker pasted on the rear of a strip club’s van, her friends could see the sticker really was on the van’s rear. Rachel Haug Gilbert and

How Dayton’s daily newspapers covered local Jewish life — long before local Jewish newspapers did By Marshall Weiss Reprinted with permission from Ohio Genealogy News, Summer 2020 On the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1863, Dayton’s 40-plus Jewish families held a grand celebration: the dedication of the first synagogue building

‘So many hearts are overwhelmed with sorrow’ One more palpable cause of worry and grief piled on top of the Great War. By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Although The Dayton Daily News reported on Oct. 5, 1918 that Dayton Health Commissioner Dr. A.O. Peters thought there was undue

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Dr. Heath Gilbert says his involvement in Dayton’s Jewish community comes from his genes. “I was a little guy running around the old JCC in Trotwood,” says the second-generation optometrist, who was installed as president of the Jewish Federation during its virtual annual

Plans as they stand, for now By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer In any year, Jewish activities hit overdrive the closer September gets, with school openings, High Holy Days services, and the flurry of programming that comes with it. But with Covid-19 still a threat, local Jewish organizations have

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Hyla N. Weiskind, a beloved senior outreach professional with Dayton’s Jewish Family Services and the JCC for a generation, died in Cleveland, Aug. 21 at age 72. Dayton’s Beth Jacob Congregation informed its members that she had died after a month-long battle with

By Rabbi Leibel Agar, Beth Jacob Congregation To me, the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) have always been a time of both introspection and celebration. The dual nature of the season seems to stir something inside us. It redirects our thinking, causing us to look inside our own souls with