Look for the Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site!   To read the complete May 2023 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.  

Shirley Mae Brook Klausner passed away on March 30 in Atlanta at the age of 97. She is survived by her three adult children: Taree Klausner of Berkeley, Calif., Richard Klausner of Bridgton, Maine, and Debra Klausner of Atlanta. She has three grandchildren: Nate Klausner, Lauren Foehl, Cydnee Jones Klausner,

First public commemoration 60 years ago at Beth Jacob Congregation By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer It was 60 years ago when Holocaust survivors invited the public to the Dayton area’s first community Yom Hashoah memorial service, held April 21, 1963 at Beth Jacob Congregation on Kumler Avenue. But

By Lisa Keys, Kveller.com One of the most — if not the most — iconic Olympic gymnastics moments of all time was when Jewish gymnast Kerri Strug clinched the gold medal in the 1996 Olympics despite having a serious injury. With the encouragement of her coach, Béla Károlyi, Strug continued

“Long live Europe, Am Yisrael Chai,” exclaimed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she received an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University last year. Her words were quickly decried on Twitter as imperialistic “racist Nazi slogans.” In 2015, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s current national security minister, was arrested on the

Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army • By Adam D. Mendelsohn • New York Univ. Press, 2022 • 323 Pages • $35 Book Review By Martin Gottlieb, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer The response of Jewish communities in the North to the Civil War was “tepid.”

Temple Anshe Emeth in Piqua, which was established in 1858, will celebrate the centennial of its current building with an open house, Saturday, April 15, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. The community is also invited to join 10 a.m. Shabbat services that day, led by Rabbinic Intern Anna Burke, with

The Power of Stories Series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Pharaoh instructed the Hebrew midwives, “When you assist the Hebrew women during childbirth, if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” Fearing God above all, the midwives

Holocaust educator Renate Frydman and Adriane Miller, executive director of the National Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton, will be honored as League of Women Voters’ 2023 Dangerous Dames of Dayton. Also being honored is Kaukab Husain, Muslim Sisterhood of Dayton founder and a director of Muslim youth

For this year’s Women of Valor luncheon, Beth Abraham Synagogue Sisterhood will celebrate women who provide spiritual leadership to local Jewish congregations and make unique contributions across the Jewish and general community. The honorees are: • Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz, Temple Israel • Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or • Courtney