Sydelle Hamburg Balas passed away Aug. 3 at the age of 94. Mrs. Balas was born March 28, 1926 in Cleveland. She graduated from Glenville High School (Cleveland) in 1944 and attended The Ohio State University. In 1950, she moved to Dayton. Mrs. Balas retired from the Dayton Board of

The historic record shows that his known legacy of racial discrimination is replete with surprising contradictions By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer The city of Oakwood is home to about 160 identified Jewish households, approximately 10 percent of the Miami Valley’s Jewish community. Chabad of Greater Dayton is prominently

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Beginning with John Patterson in 1890 and continuing with his company over 77 years, Temple Israel entered into protracted real estate transactions with NCR that would benefit both. At the center of these transactions was the Dayton Jewish community’s first cemetery. The story

By Faygie Holt, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Temple Beth Or encouraged Grant Halasz to use his musical talents there for its programs when he was growing up. It was a skill he furthered during his years at Union for Reform Judaism camps, including Goldman Union Camp Institute in

Jewish food blogger Whitney Fisch takes over as director of the Hillel at Miami University in Oxford, Aug. 1. Fisch received her MSW from The University of Michigan School of Social Work. She has served as a counselor with a private Jewish middle school in Miami, Fla. and most recently

A Bisel Kisel with Masha Kisel, The Dayton Jewish Observer When I set out to teach a course called The Jewish-American Experience on Film at the University of Dayton, I didn’t anticipate that I would talk about race in America. I envisioned a chronological survey of films and television shows

With Scott Halasz, The Dayton Jewish Observer Childhood Memories, a photograph by Stephen Goldberg, has been accepted for inclusion in Partnership2Gether Western Galilee’s Covid-19 Photo Exhibition with Munio Gallery. The exhibit is a curated collection of photographs taken by Israeli, Hungarian, and U.S. amateur photographers. It highlights the time of

By Rabbi Levi Simon, Chabad of Greater Dayton If you peek through the front windows of my house, the first thing you might see would be our children’s toys, our books, and large dining room table. You’d probably get a pretty good idea of what our family is like and

Our Dual Heritage Series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer When writer and storyteller Sarah Montana was 22, her mother and brother were shot to death in their home by a neighborhood teen looking for valuables to steal. Seven years later, she recounted in a

By Josefin Dolsten, JTA Midway through Lila Duke’s Bat Mitzvah, her family’s cat made an appearance. Minnie’s interruption was one of many ways that Lila’s coming-of-age ceremony was different from what she had expected. While the 12-year-old still read her Torah portion in front of more than 100 people, still