Religion, March 2011 By Rabbi Samuel B. Press, Rabbi Emeritus, Beth Abraham Synagogue    As we approach the observance and celebration of Purim, I choose to share selected thoughts on the holiday, ideas which may serve as a catalyst for our own reflections. Rabbi Samuel B. Press The lodestone which

Sinai Scholarship applications, April 2010 By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer The Miami Valley School and the Sinai Scholars program will make five scholarships available for students entering ninth grade for the 2010-11 school year. In addition, the private, nonsectarian college prep school and Sinai have approved adding a

Birthright trips through Partnership, February 2011 Partnership with Israel is offering free spots on a reserved bus for a 10-day Taglit-Birthright Israel trip this summer to qualifying Jews ages 18-26 in the Dayton area. Dayton’s Jewish Federation is one of 15 in the central United States to participate with the

Centennial Family Mission, February 2011 ‘If the goal of the trip was to reconnect with our Jewishness and the state of Israel, it worked.’             Riding camels at a Bedouin camp Photos and Story by Marcia Schonberg Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer The tour

Religion, February 2011 By Rabbi Bernard Barsky, Beth Abraham Synagogue Most days it was Barry the Messiah who greeted me first when I entered the Brooklyn daycare center for those suffering from mental illness. I worked there for a year, 2002-03, as a rabbinic pastoral intern, and Barry had a

Fiddler national tour, February 2011 By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer John Preece as Tevye On Sept. 22, 1964, an improbable musical about Jewish peasants in pre-revolutionary Russia opened at New York’s Imperial Theatre. Almost 50 years since that opening, Fiddler on the Roof remains one of the most

Pulpit exchange, January 2011 If you want to hear Baptist ministers offer a dvar Torah on Shabbat or a rabbi testify to his faith in church, the Omega Baptist/Temple Israel Pulpit Exchange is for you. The exchange — held during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend — has been an annual

Jewish Family Identity Forum By Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer, January 2011 Sinai. Its impact on the course of human experience has never been equaled. For a year, this column has focused on exploring Aseret haDibrot, The Ten Sayings of Jewish tradition known more generally as the Ten

Rabbi Glickman’s new book, January 2011 Rabbi Mark Glickman Rabbi Mark Glickman, who served as Temple Israel’s assistant rabbi from 1991 to 1997, will return to the temple on Monday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss his new book, Sacred Treasure — The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of

Religion, January 2011 By Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or, and chair, Dayton Synagogue Forum Rabbi Judy Chessin There was a great deal of speculation this summer as to whether First Daughter Chelsea Clinton would take on the last name of her groom Mark Mezvinsky. And the issue of changing