Project Yitzhak Heather Cole   The Torah tells us that Sarah laughed with joy when she learned she was pregnant at the age of 90. She named her son Isaac, or Yitzhak, after this joyous laughter. This is the inspiration for a new visual arts collaboration involving artists in Dayton

Federation President’s Message Deborah A. Feldman   As I look back on my first year as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, I am amazed at how fast the year has gone and how much has occurred. The theme of this year’s annual meeting is taken from the

An interview with Joan Rivers Marshall Weiss   Few entertainers have worked harder for their success than Joan Rivers. For more than a decade, she worked her way up, performing her comedy in seedy clubs, Borscht Belt hotels, and Greenwich Village cabarets — sometimes without pay — just for the

The Love Letters Marc Katz   David Moss explored creativity until he found his calling Jack Moss always insisted of his children: be curious and creative. David Moss has certainly followed that advice. At first, he didn’t want to go to college. He not only ended up in college, but

Federal trial Tami Kamin-Meyer   Whether an 83-year-old Butler Township resident will have his citizenship revoked with the possibility of deportation to his native Lithuania is at the heart of settlement negotiations between lawyers for Ildefonsas Bucmys and the U.S. Department of Justice, according to U.S. District Judge Walter H.

Sukkot at Hillel Marshall Weiss The Dayton Jewish Observer   Just prior to the harvest festival of Sukkot at the end of September, every student at Hillel Academy received a gift to shake things up at home. Dr. Dan and Teri German made certain that each child had his or

New Springfield rabbi Marshall Weiss The Dayton Jewish Observer   Among the joys of leading Temple Sholom in Springfield, Rabbi Janice Garfunkel says, is seeing her parents — Drs. Erika and Felix Garfunkel — several times a month. “I have two little kids and my parents are in Dayton. My

Ohio’s Jewish vote Tami Kamin-Meyer   COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 26 (JTA) — Jewish voters in Ohio may be split about which presidential candidate to choose on Nov. 2, but one thing seems certain: Few seem thrilled with their choices. Michael Halasz, a dentist in Centerville, a suburb of Dayton, summed

Storahtelling Martha Moody Jacobs Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer   Once upon a time, attending a Torah service did not mean simply listening to someone read Hebrew. In ancient days the Torah reader had a helper, a m’turgeman, who translated the Hebrew line by line into the local tongue

Mikvah campaign Marshall Weiss The Dayton Jewish Observer   Beth Jacob Congregation agrees to lease land at $1 a year With $150,000 in prior commitments toward a $350,000 goal, the Dayton Mikvah Society is now going public with its fund-raising campaign to build a new facility. “We’ve been looking for