By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer When Dan Sweeny was elected president of the Jewish Federation at its annual meeting Aug. 25, four generations of his family were in the room, from his grandmother Elaine Bettman to his children. And Joe Bettman, his late grandfather, was in his heart.

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer In 2006, Yad Vashem published a diary in which 14-year-old Rutka Laskier, a Polish Jew, wrote about her life for four months in 1943, until her deportation and murder in Auschwitz. A non-Jewish friend of Rutka had safeguarded the diary for six decades.

The public is invited to attend three readings of a new play, Anschel, by Michael London, based on the book Anschel’s Story by Renate Frydman. The Dayton Holocaust Resource Center’s founder and director, Frydman published the book in 2017. It’s her late husband’s story of survival in Nazi-occupied Poland. Told

By Rabbi Aubrey L. Glazer, Beth Abraham Synagogue Why do we gather? As a tribal and global community, Jews know that gatherings play a huge role in our lives. In this process of our comings together of friends, family, and co-workers, Priya Parker teaches that we all have the potential

Opinion By Avi Gilbert This summer, I had a life-changing experience: the chance to travel to Israel for a month. Because of the ongoing war, none of my camp friends from Goldman Union Camp Institute traveled with me, so I didn’t know anyone else on the trip. However, that was

Wittenberg University has hired Darren Hertz as its new men’s basketball head coach. The Miami, Fla. native served as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton since 2017 and brings with him 25-plus years of experience as a college men’s basketball coach, including 19 seasons at his alma mater,

Sacred Speech — a new series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer The new rabbi was mystified. Every Shabbat, an argument broke out during the service when it came time to recite the Shema. Half the congregation would tell everyone to rise: “We stand for

The Synagogue Forum of Greater Dayton presents its 14-session Introduction to Judaism course on Tuesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. beginning Nov. 12 and running through March 4. The annual class is open to anyone interested in Jewish learning, dialogue, and exploration. A hybrid course, some sessions are held at

The Jewish Federation will lead a mini mission to Washington, D.C., Nov. 8-10 in advance of Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly. The trip includes a Shabbat service and dinner at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, tours of the new Capital Jewish Museum, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,

Look for The Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site.     To read the complete October 2024 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.