The Nosher Tu B’Shevat, the new year for trees, falls on Jan. 21 this year. Thanks to the folks at Jewish National Fund, here’s a one-of-a-kind babka made with the seven species of Israel. The original “tree people,” JNF has planted 240 million trees in Israel to date, making Israel

The Bible: Wisdom Literature Jewish Family Education With Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Grocery shopping with a cranky grandbaby means a quick stroller run-and-toss through the aisles, a task I recently accomplished in a record 13 minutes. While unloading, however, I discovered two overlooked cartons of eggs in

By Stephen Renas Three days after the Oct. 27, 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh that left 11 dead, Jews in the Dayton area came together to mourn. Those from the community at large were invited to participate. In my estimation,

Look for The Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site.     To read the complete January 2019 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.  

By Marcy Oster, JTA A Huber Heights man was convicted Dec. 17 of a hate crime for attacking a man he thought was Jewish. Izmir Koch, 33, was found guilty by a judge for his part in the assault of a man smoking a cigarette outside a local restaurant on Feb. 4, 2017.

Edwin Harold Gessel, age 94 formerly of Dayton, died in Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Newton, Mass. on Nov. 14. He was born in Philadelphia on May 20, 1924 to Cecelia and Jacob Gessel. He is survived by children Ira Gessel (Abigail Bordeaux), Louise Gessel (Martin Larson), and Michael Gessel (Marcy Gessel); grandchildren

With Rachel Haug Gilbert, The Dayton Jewish Observer At the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Ohio conference in October, Hallie Greenfield was honored as the 2018 Outstanding Ohio Orientation and Mobility Specialist. In addition, she was awarded the biannual J. Kenneth Cozier Memorial

By Walter H. Rice Senior U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Ohio Walter H. Rice delivered this keynote address on Oct. 30 at the Dayton area Jewish community’s memorial for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre. I am neither a rabbi nor a faith-based leader; nor

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer More than 1,300 people from a mosaic of religious, cultural, and ethnic communities across the Miami Valley came together at Temple Israel on the evening of Oct. 30 to remember the 11 Jews murdered in a Pittsburgh synagogue by an antisemitic gunman three

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Two days after its 41st Annual Friendship Dinner, The National Conference For Community and Justice of Greater Dayton issued an apology “to our guests and especially members of the Jewish community in attendance for the prayer offered before dinner.” In her Oct. 31