By Stephen Silver, JTA When Mel Brooks was filming The Producers, he recalled an executive approaching him and saying, “The curly-haired guy—he’s funny looking. Fire him.” Brooks said he would fire the actor, but never intended to actually do it. And when The Producers came out, it became a classic

By Linda Buchwald, New York Jewish Week In the documentary Nathan-ism, Jewish artist Nathan Hilu is hardly ever without a Sharpie or crayon in his hand, drawing something from his memories. Hilu was a Lower East Side native who, as a U.S. soldier at 19, was assigned to guard Nazi

By PJ Grisar, Forward Enough time has passed, the Vatican decided in 2019, to examine the record of Pope Pius. The church unsealed papal archives long sought after by historians, and researchers have begun to paint a damning portrait. Pius XII, the head of the church through World War II,

Temple Israel will host its annual Jewish Cultural Festival from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, June 9. This year’s food/drink vendors are Brock Masterson’s, Greek Street Food Truck, Graeter’s, Temple Israel’s bakery, Blue Bus Coffee Roasters, and The Dayton Beer Co. Entertainment includes The Flying Klezmerians, Mary “Mahira” Rogers

Look for The Adventures of Bark Mitzvah Boy each month in The Dayton Jewish Observer and at this site!     To read the complete June 2024 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.

Rabbi Dr. Samuel B. Press, age 87 of Dayton, passed away April 29. Rabbi Press was born in Middletown, Conn. in 1936 and raised in Springfield, Mass. He graduated from Yeshiva College with honors and received the Talmud Prize. After college, Rabbi Press served in the U.S. Air Force and

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer For an hour on March 19, four Israelis shared their stories with members of Dayton’s Jewish community and allies about how each survived the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. Halfway through the program, moderated by Jewish Federation President-Elect Dan Sweeny, Eitan Frankl of Kibbutz

Documentary celebrates lost world more marvelous than Mrs. Maisel ever knew By Dan Pine, J. The resorts are gone now, either demolished or rotting in the humid air of upstate New York. But for nearly a century, the Catskill Mountains served as a lush playground for America’s upwardly mobile Jews.

By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz, Temple Beth Sholom, Middletown Approximately one month prior to the deadline for this article, my husband, Ely David Spiegel, passed away of pancreatic cancer. In an effort to bring me comfort, a number of well-meaning friends tried to reassure me that “God only gives us what

Judaism’s Worldview Series Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Talmudic sages taught: “When the sun is eclipsed it is a bad omen for the entire world. The Gemara (commentary) tells a parable. To what is this matter comparable? To a