Geri Burke, age 81 of Miamisburg, passed away Oct. 4. She is survived by her daughter, Debbie Nahum-Parenti; son David Burke and wife Kathy of New Mexico and Texas; four grandchildren, Joseph Nahum, Zachary Johnson, Rachel Burke and Jessica Burke; two great-grandchildren, Jaylen and Kira; one sister, Linda Sable. She

By Jennie Szink, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Ethan Bortnick is making a name for himself as a child pianist, but nine years ago his story could have read differently. At age 3, Ethan begged his parents for piano lessons but they were reluctant to give in to the

By Masada Siegel, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Little did journalist Lisa Barr know that covering an event in the early 1990s would change her own life story. One of her assignments took her to the Art Institute of Chicago. At the time, Barr was entrenched in creating a

By Jennie Szink, Special To The Observer All parents ask themselves if they’re doing their job right, but not all have had to examine their parenting skills under the white light of a hospital room. That’s where John Schwartz and his wife, Jeanne Mixon, found themselves when they rushed to

By Martha Moody Jacobs, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Fourteen-year-old Nour Shahadi, an Arab Israeli who thinks of Dayton as the place she really learned English, is still kvelling about the three weeks she spent at the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Maine this summer. The camp —

With Rachel Haug Gilbert, The Dayton Jewish Observer Welcome to Kvelling Corner! I was born and raised in the Dayton area, and I am proud that my family was among the founding members of Temple Beth Or. Although I have a marketing degree from the University of Kentucky, I really

In September, The Ohio Society of Professional Journalists announced that Marshall Weiss, editor and publisher of The Dayton Jewish Observer, is the recipient of its 2013 first-place award for Best Religion Reporting in the category of newspapers with circulation below 75,000. Weiss won the award for his July 2012 piece

By Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin, Chabad of Greater Dayton This month, we are once again starting the cycle of the Torah, reading again Bereshit, the Book of Genesis. It was my favorite part of the Torah as a child, and now reading it again and again each year as an adult,

A look at the Holy Book: a new series The Jewish Family Identity Forum With Candace R. Kwiatek The Dayton Jewish Observer The recent hoopla over the new British heir highlighted the importance of symbols. Unlikely to hold any political power in his lifetime, His Royal Highness Prince George is

With a grant from the Jewish Chautauqua Society — the interfaith project of The Men of Reform Judaism — Temple Beth Or will launch a program this month to bring interfaith families together to explore the role of Judaism in their lives. Fusion Families is open to all interfaith families