Look for The Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site.     To read the complete July 2018 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.

Rose Marie Mauch, age 80 of Kettering, passed away June 10. She was born July 29, 1937 in Lebanon, Ohio. After graduating from Patterson Co-op High School, Mrs. Mauch received an art education from Sinclair College. She retired from Nationwide Insurance following a stroke that left her unable to communicate

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Along with the nosh, drink, vendors, and live animals we’ve come to expect at Temple Israel’s Jewish Cultural Festival, this year’s version will feature a new klezmer band — based here in Dayton — and a talk with one of Israel’s most seasoned

By Donniel Hartman Late last night, on May 14, as the death toll in Gaza neared 60 human beings, my daughter called me with one simple question. “Abba, what are you writing about Gaza?” Before her call, I hadn’t intended to write. Gaza paralyzes me into silence. When I read

By Lev Gringauz, New Voices Young Jews are increasingly not affiliated with mainstream Jewish institutions and those institutions are panicking. But some aren’t lost at all. They’re just expressing their Jewishness elsewhere: at Facebook. They’ve built their own institution of sorts: Jewbook, a term referring to a community of Jewish

Chabad of Greater Dayton has hired a third couple, Mussie and Rabbi Elchonon Chaikin, to oversee its programming and outreach for Jewish teens, college students, and young adults in the Miami Valley. Mussie, 22, is from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. She most recently worked in a

With Rachel Haug Gilbert, The Dayton Jewish Observer Sinclair Community College Prof. of Sociology Sean Frost has been elected to a two-year term as president of the Sinclair Faculty Assembly. Sean previously served as a divisional senator and vice president of the faculty assembly. Bonnie Beaman Rice is now director

By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz, Temple Beth Sholom, Middletown “Avinu Malkeinu, Our Father, Our King” . . . OK, it’s not Yom Kippur yet, and although a rabbi may begin to prepare sermons for the High Holy Days early, that’s not my focus here. But rather, I would like to highlight

Cedar Village’s board of trustees announced April 18 that it will sell its campus in Mason to an independent operator of senior living and skilled nursing facilities. “The agreement will enable all current residents to stay at Cedar Village, regardless of their insurance or payment strategy; the agreement also includes

The Bible: Wisdom Literature A series by Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer When Solomon ascended to the throne of Israel, God appeared to him in a dream and offered to give him whatever he desired. Solomon chose wisdom: an understanding heart to discern between good and evil. Solomon’s