The Jewish Family Identity Forum with Candace Kwiatek The Dayton Jewish Observer Bulging suitcases. Brand-new laptops. Sheet sets, storage containers, and a few childhood treasures adorned both bunks of the dorm room. After getting the basics in place, my niece’s parents gave her a hug, some words of encouragement, and

The Jewish Family Identity Forum By Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer There is a legend that following the Revolutionary War, in which the Jewish financier Haym Salomon played a crucial role, Washington asked what he would like in recognition. Salomon replied that he wanted nothing for himself but

Child rearing by our values Jewish Family Identity Forum By Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer For my son’s 7th birthday, I videotaped the party attendees as they reenacted his favorite adventure book My Father’s Dragon. Then, while the eight boys all ate cake and ice cream, they cracked

Jewish Family Identity Forum By Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Shelley’s powerful sonnet Ozymandias describes the fragmented statue of a long-ago king abandoned in a barren desert. On its pedestal the sculptor had carved, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and

Ritualizing our values By Candace R. Kwiatek, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Jewish Family Identity Forum A mound of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters spilled out onto the kitchen table from boxes, pockets, and purses. Every year back as far as I can remember, my family took some time

Jewish Family Identity Forum Symbols of our values By Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept…” Exiled by the Babylonians from their land, their holy city Jerusalem, and their Temple, the Jews had been stripped of the familiar concrete symbols

Exploring our values The Jewish Family Identity Forum With Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, my brother and his family were still without power. However, with advance notice of the storm, his wife had prepared enough preserved foods to feed the family for weeks,

Living by our values By Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Jewish Family Identity Forum Enveloped by the flimsy bamboo walls and branch-strewn roof of the sukkah, I found myself reflecting upon an unlikely character: Abraham Lincoln. I had recently come across Lincoln’s Great Depression, in which Joshua Shenk

On Aug. 29, The Ohio Society of Professional Journalists Awards competition announced that columns written for The Dayton Jewish Observer by Rabbi Bernard Barsky and Candace R. Kwiatek received first- and second-place awards in the category of Best Religion Reporting for publications with circulation below 100,000. Barsky, Beth Abraham Synagogue’s

Jewish Family Identity Forum With Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer Abraham. Moses. Joshua. Solomon. Larger-than-life heroes of the Bible, they embody many of the traits we seek in our leaders today. A dedication to truth and justice, like Abraham destroying idols and arguing with God about the destruction