On April 18, Beth Abraham Synagogue President Mary Rita Weissman announced to members via email that Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg will become the Conservative congregation’s rabbi as of July 1. A native of Chicago, Ginsberg received his rabbinic ordination and master of Hebrew letters degree from Jewish Theological Seminary. He is

The board of Beth Jacob Congregation voted on April 17 not to extend Rabbi Martin Applebaum’s one-year contract beyond July 31, 2013. Dr. Herman I. Abromowitz, president of the synagogue, notified congregants in a letter the following day. Abromowitz wrote that “a detailed report of Rabbi Applebaum’s status was presented

Federation will unveil new volunteer initiative, plans for coming year, progress on strategic plan By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer When Federation CEO Cathy Gardner says the Federation’s annual meeting will give the community a taste of what’s in store for the new year, she means it. Rue Dumaine’s

With Charlotte Golden, The Dayton Jewish Observer Rabbi Janice Garfunkel was among nine recipients of an honorary doctor of divinity degree on March 21 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. Casey Weinstein was named one of the Dayton Business Journals’s 2013 40 under 40 honorees. Casey is

The Jewish Internet by Mark Mietkiewicz, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Unlike other Jewish holidays, only one festival, Shavuot, has become synonymous with dairy foods. There are people who would be happy to sit down to a table groaning under the weight of blintzes and kugel and onion soup

Joseph Bienenfeld, age 93, passed away March 24 at Cedar Village in Mason. Mr. Bienenfeld was born in Warsaw on April 9, 1919. He was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. He met his beloved wife, Freda — also a Holocaust survivor — at a DP

By Marshall Weiss, Editor and Publisher The Dayton Jewish Observer The breadth and depth of the Dayton area’s offerings to commemorate the Holocaust this year rival those of the largest cities in America. When details about these programs started to trickle in here, I began to wonder: In our small

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer From 1941 to 1945, nearly 15,000 Jewish children were sent to Terezin, the Nazis “camp-ghetto” near Prague in Czechoslovakia. From there, ninety percent of them were slaughtered in death camps. Though conditions at this transit and labor camp were harsh, artistic expression flourished

Other Son conjures dream of peaceful coexistence Review by Michael Fox, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer The goal of most films about Israelis and Palestinians — narrative features as well as documentaries — is to combat the real-world demonization and fear of the “enemy” by humanizing the other side.

Sinclair Holocaust Remembrance Survivor Samuel Heider will deliver the keynote speech for Sinclair Community College’s Holocaust Remembrance 2013, on Thursday, April 4 at 12:30 p.m. in Room 14130, Building 14. Heider was the only member of his family not killed in the Holocaust. Among the concentration camps he survived were