How Dayton’s daily newspapers covered local Jewish life — long before local Jewish newspapers did By Marshall Weiss Reprinted with permission from Ohio Genealogy News, Summer 2020 On the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1863, Dayton’s 40-plus Jewish families held a grand celebration: the dedication of the first synagogue building

‘So many hearts are overwhelmed with sorrow’ One more palpable cause of worry and grief piled on top of the Great War. By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Although The Dayton Daily News reported on Oct. 5, 1918 that Dayton Health Commissioner Dr. A.O. Peters thought there was undue

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Dr. Heath Gilbert says his involvement in Dayton’s Jewish community comes from his genes. “I was a little guy running around the old JCC in Trotwood,” says the second-generation optometrist, who was installed as president of the Jewish Federation during its virtual annual

Plans as they stand, for now By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer In any year, Jewish activities hit overdrive the closer September gets, with school openings, High Holy Days services, and the flurry of programming that comes with it. But with Covid-19 still a threat, local Jewish organizations have

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Hyla N. Weiskind, a beloved senior outreach professional with Dayton’s Jewish Family Services and the JCC for a generation, died in Cleveland, Aug. 21 at age 72. Dayton’s Beth Jacob Congregation informed its members that she had died after a month-long battle with

By Rabbi Leibel Agar, Beth Jacob Congregation To me, the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) have always been a time of both introspection and celebration. The dual nature of the season seems to stir something inside us. It redirects our thinking, causing us to look inside our own souls with

The Dayton Chapter of Hadassah will present the virtual program Every Bite Counts! featuring Julie Ohana, who will discuss using food in therapy, and healthy foods to boost the immune system, via Zoom at 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 13. Ohana describes her cooking sessions as “Culinary Art Therapy,” using cooking

By Bob Jacob, Cleveland Jewish News Victims of antisemitic or extremist hate or harassment in Ohio now have another avenue for recourse, thanks to the Anti-Defamation League’s regional office in Cleveland. The launch of the Ohio Legal Assistance Project allows victims to use attorneys on a pro bono basis to

By Tim Carlin, Cleveland Jewish News Chabad at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio will move to a new, bigger space this fall. It’s renovating a former fraternity house near the campus which it hopes will be ready by the High Holy Days. The new space will include a library, kosher

By Rakhel Silverman, Alma Last Rosh Hashanah, I snuck out of services, escaped to the bathroom, and broke my no-technology practice to turn on my phone. No, I didn’t need to do something for work. I wasn’t checking my Instagram feed. I was sending possibly the most important email I’d