Bernice Berkenfield, age 96 of Kettering, passed away on Feb. 25 at The Suites at Walnut Creek, Kettering. “Barney” was born June 28, 1915 in Pittsburgh, Pa. to the late Benjamin and Rhea (Klineman) Steinberg. She was preceded in death by her husband of 40 years, Morton R. Dworken of

By Michael Fox Special To The Observer The pioneering Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem was born in a shtetl in the middle of the 19th century. Even today his name is synonymous with the Old Country and a vanished way of life. Blame Fiddler on the Roof, which was adapted from

By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz Temple Beth Sholom Middletown With so many holidays on the Jewish calendar, even during the month of May, it might seem odd for me to write about Memorial Day. And yet, I hope that after reading this article, the importance of this day and the lesson

In The Mix By Julie Wiener Forget those 50 rabbis Newsweek has been fussing over. Journalist/author Peter Beinart may well be the most famous American Jew these days, at least among the New York Times-New York Review of Books-New Yorker-reading intelligentsia. Lost in all the debate about his views on

By Jennie Szink, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer When Ira Segalewitz attended a Yiddish conference last spring, he didn’t expect to be enveloped by songs about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed more than 145 workers in New York in 1911. He didn’t think he’d be so connected

  By Jennie Szink, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Well into her adult life, Karin Hirschkatz had only seen one picture of her father before he was in his 20s. She had rarely talked to her elder family members about their escape from Germany during the Nazi era. All

With Charlotte Golden, The Dayton Jewish Observer Franklin T. Cohn was recently named to the board of directors of the Dayton Miami Valley Senior Olympics Inc. Sue Gruenberg is busy organizing events to celebrate Dayton Ballet’s 75th Anniversary. The kickoff event will be the Opening Salute to Dayton Ballet’s 75

By Rabbi David Sofian, Temple Israel, Dayton, Ohio Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer I would like to draw your attention to one of the beloved sections of the Pesach Haggadah which hopefully all of us will soon experience, the section about the four sons. Certainly today, we are more

The story of Leah and ‘Filly’ Aks By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer When Titanic departed on its first and last voyage from Southampton, England on Wednesday, April 10, 1912, 18-year-old Jewish immigrant Leah Aks and her 10-month-old son, Philip were on board. Passover had concluded the day before.

The Jewish Internet By Mark Mietkiewicz, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer It may not have the fame of matzah. Or the kick of a mouthful of marror. But charoset, that lively mixture of nuts and wine and apple, plays a delicious role as we eat our way through the