The Power of Half, April 2011 Author to share message for Jewish community’s Mitzvah Week By Masada Siegel Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Life is about perspective. Do you see the glass as half empty or half full? More importantly, what can you do to impact the world in

Matter of Size review, April 2011 Scene from A Matter of Size Film Review By Michael Fox, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Ruthlessly and riotously, A Matter of Size (Sipur Gadol) proves once and for all that Israel is the world’s capital of tough love. Four seriously overweight friends,

Nora’s Will review, April 2011 Film Review By Michael Fox, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer  Scene from Nora’s Will The desire to reconcile with dead loved ones — to say what was never said and to understand what was never explained — is powerful and universal. Yet 60-something José

Interview with Al Rosen, April 2011 By Michael Fox, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Al Rosen in Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story On his way to becoming a perennial All-Star in the mid-1950s, Indians clean-up hitter Al Rosen received more than his share of barbs from opposing

Religion, April 2011 By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz, Temple Beth Sholom, Middletown The Passover Seder is more than simply an excuse to bring the family together for a nice meal. It is intended to be an educational experience as well.   That is one reason for the special book with step

Passover recipes, April 2011 By Linda Morel, JTA Chocolate Mousse Meringue Layer Cake is one of the Passover goodies featured in Paula Shoyer’s The Kosher Baker With all the restrictions, are decent desserts even possible during Passover? “My particular talent is working around restriction,” says Paula Shoyer, author of The

Dramatis personae, April 2011 Some of the key players in the Jewish stories of the Civil War Judah P. Benjamin (1811-1884) The first openly Jewish member of the U.S. Senate, Benjamin was the only member of the Confederate Cabinet who wasn’t a slave owner (he sold his sugar plantation and

Books about Jews and the Civil War, April 2011 April marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. There’s more gray surrounding the Jews in Blue and Gray than we might think at first glance. Here are some excellent books to learn more and help bridge the

Lincoln on the penny, April 2011 Victor David Brenner If you look carefully at the bottom left of the engraving of Abraham Lincoln on a penny, you’ll find the initials VDB. President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned Lithuanian Jewish immigrant Victor David Brenner to craft the engraving of Lincoln for a 1909

Jews and the Civil War, April 2011 Links between Passover and the Civil War — narratives of national deliverance — are inseparable. For Jews and the descendants of American slaves, spring is the season of freedom. The Civil War began 10 days after Passover 1861 and ended on the eve