The same day members of the Wright State University community saw the message “KILL BIBI” painted on the campus rock, the administration painted over it. Bibi is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname. One Wright State student emailed a photo of the rock with that message to The Observer after

William Harvey Fenberg, April 18, 1948 – April 7, 2026. William Harvey Fenberg, known as Bill to many, passed away at the age of 77 in Dayton. Born on April 18, 1948, in Findlay, Ohio, he grew up in northwest Ohio and spent much of his life in Toledo and

Miami Valley Jewish Genealogy & History, a project of the Jewish Federation, will cohost two programs to help Jewish genealogy researchers at all levels. In partnership with the newly revived Greater Cincinnati Jewish Genealogical Society, Miami Valley JG&H will cosponsor its inaugural event, Ancestry Meets AI: Tracing Your Roots Using

ThinkTV and PBS, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton and Miami Valley Urban League, will present an edited screening of Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s new documentary series, Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History, 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 29 at The Tank at the Dayton Arcade. Following

Ira Sheskin’s new estimate of about 7,000, up from 4,000 in 2023, reflects more extensive research rather than Jewish population growth. By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer There are more of us here than we thought. Significant funding for a national study on the number of Jews in all

By Asaf Elia-Shalev, JTA Ira Sheskin is one of the most prominent demographers of American Jews. A professor at the University of Miami, Sheskin helps Jewish communities across the country carry out complicated population surveys. He sometimes works for businesses, too, and several years ago, a major kosher poultry company

By Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or We are living through historic times. American Jews have long lived with an uncomfortable truth: The world is far more sympathetic to powerless Jews than to powerful ones. The writer Dara Horn described the reality bluntly in her book People Love Dead Jews.

By Jon Kalish, NY Jewish Week “When a lady whistled at you on Allen Street, you knew she’s not calling you to a minyan!” So goes a particularly illuminating quote from a lawyer named Jonah Goldstein, describing just how derelict life on the Lower East Side was in July 1913,

In the News Series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Recent headlines tell a sobering story: Human freedoms ‘fallen off the cliff,’ new study reveals. Free speech is facing threats in the US and beyond. ‘The Last Generation of Freedom’? The Quiet Growth of Global

Four Dayton-area Holocaust survivors — Felix Garfunkel, Larry Katz, Ira Segalewitz, and Yakov Shayevich — are included in the Cincinnati photography exhibit, Holding Hope: Stories of Survival During the Holocaust, on display through June 7 at Union Terminal, under the auspices of the Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center. Survivors’ stories