By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer This fall, Dayton’s harvest of live theatre yields three Jewish-oriented productions: Neil Simon’s familiar Lost In Yonkers, the rarely performed Abie’s Irish Rose, and the musical Caroline, Or Change. Richard Brock, director of Abie’s Irish Rose, says he’s tried for years to get

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Judy Grampp, a paramedic who works in the ER at Good Samaritan Hospital, lost her 31/2-year-old grandson, Joey Cross, to Tay-Sachs disease on Oct. 17, 2010. Grampp is now the driving force behind an educational panel for the community about Tay-Sachs and other

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer With results of the Jewish Federation’s online community survey and focus groups in hand, Federation’s strategic planning committee has launched three work groups to devise strategies to improve Federation’s performance based on community priorities. Those priorities as indicated in the survey and focus

Non-Jews help bring music to temples on High Holy Days and Shabbat Non-Jews hired to perform liturgical music for liberal Jewish congregations is not unusual. But the stories of those who come to do it and why they continue are unique. By Renate Frydman, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

Author wrestles with challenges, rewards of Sabbath By Michelle Tedford, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Judith Shulevitz tells stories. There are ones about her father, who would take his children on Saturdays to the movies against the wishes of their mother, a rabbi. And there are recent stories, like

By Masada Siegel, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer   Performers are ultimately storytellers, weaving a tale, expressing emotions, creating joy. They can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Sarge — a comedian, singer and pianist with a story to tell — will perform at the 2012 United Jewish Campaign

By Scott Halasz, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer When Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston for the heavyweight boxing title in 1964, it boosted the career of not one, but two people.Clay went on to boxing and entertainment greatness, eventually changing his name to Muhammad Ali. But in addition to

By Jennie Szink, Special to The Dayton Jewish Observer When Jim Axelrod commutes home to Montclair, N.J. from Manhattan, he studies the looks on people’s faces around him. They don’t reflect relief at the end of the work day or anticipation of seeing their families. Instead, they’re what Axelrod describes

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer In mid June, the board of Hillel Academy announced it had hired Kathy and Dan Mecoli to share the Jewish day school’s full-time administrative position. Dan has been named principal and Kathy the instructional leader of Hillel, which enters this school year using

Mitzvah projects bring to life timeless Jewish values By Michelle Tedford, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer By carefully choosing the blue glass of his artwork, Tobias Cebulash captured the white swirl of a storm cloud. In the brown, the wood grain of a ship’s hull. And in the navy