By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer With the recent hiring of three Judaic scholars in our region, we introduce you to them here. They are Jenny Caplan, Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Chair in Judaic Studies at University of Cincinnati; Elliot Ratzman, chair in Jewish studies and visiting assistant professor

Seeds project offers $500 a year for K-12 Jewish student experiences By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Beginning Jan. 3, the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton will offer each Jewish student in the Miami Valley from kindergarten through 12th grade a $500 annual subsidy toward Jewish programs locally or

By Marc Katz, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Native Daytonian Justin Hollander was already 29 years old in 2008 and three-plus years into a law career when he took a tedious, low-paying, entry-level job as a “stat stringer” at San Diego Padres games. During home games, he sat next

By Elli Wohlgelernter, JTA Kibbutz Gezer, Israel — Bill James, the influential baseball writer, historian and statistician, once described the great Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly in only four words: “100 percent ballplayer, 0 percent bulls—.” The same can be said of Alon Leichman, the first athlete born in Israel

By Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin, Chabad of Greater Dayton Servants of time are slaves of slaves, The servant of God alone is free, Therefore, when each man makes his choice, My soul says, ‘I choose God for me.’ This short poem, written by Yehuda HaLevi near a millennium ago, is about

The Power of Stories series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Yakov joined a local Minchah (afternoon) service and sat a few rows behind a father and his four kids. The man in front of them drummed his fingers on the bench. The kids fidgeted.

Julie and Dr. Robert Bloom participated in their third Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Annual Israel Bike Mission, an intensive six-day bicycle ride through Israel from Eilat to Jerusalem, Nov. 11 to 17. Along the way, they cycled near the Egyptian border on a private military road and visited

By Steve Markman I think each veteran chose military service for a different reason. For some it was patriotism, for some to learn a skill, and some just needed a job. Going back earlier, some of us were drafted. But each of us gained something from that experience, along with

By Ron Kampeas, JTA In its closing session, Ohio’s legislature passed a law imposing penalties of up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for “zoombombing” religious services, a practice that antisemites have used to intimidate Jews. The law, Increasing Penalties for Disturbing a Religious Service, passed unanimously

Omega Baptist Church and Temple Israel will host their annual MLK Weekend pulpit exchange Jan. 13 and 15. The Rev. Joshua D. Ward will deliver the sermon at Temple Israel’s Shabbat service at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 13. Temple Israel is located at 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz