By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer When Dan Sweeny was elected president of the Jewish Federation at its annual meeting Aug. 25, four generations of his family were in the room, from his grandmother Elaine Bettman to his children. And Joe Bettman, his late grandfather, was in his heart.

The Synagogue Forum of Greater Dayton presents its 14-session Introduction to Judaism course on Tuesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. beginning Nov. 12 and running through March 4. The annual class is open to anyone interested in Jewish learning, dialogue, and exploration. A hybrid course, some sessions are held at

The Jewish Federation will lead a mini mission to Washington, D.C., Nov. 8-10 in advance of Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly. The trip includes a Shabbat service and dinner at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, tours of the new Capital Jewish Museum, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,

An interview with pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Mike Bloom & educator Amy Bloom By Marshall Weiss, The Observer This summer, the Times of Israel reported that since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, approximately 400 physicians and 30 health professionals from the United States and other countries have volunteered in Israel

Four days before nine Israeli Arab high school students from the Galilee and their chaperone were to arrive Aug. 9 for two weeks in Dayton, their trip was postponed until next year. With heightened tensions and threats of retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah after Israel’s assassinations of top Hamas military

Renate Frydman, founder and curator of Prejudice & Memory: A Holocaust Exhibit, will lead a tour of the exhibit at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 10 to commemorate its 25th anniversary on permanent display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The tour is presented by the JCC’s adult

Bill Trollinger, professor of history and religious studies at the University of Dayton, will present the address, Terrorizing Catholics, Jews, and Immigrants: The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Dayton at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 5 at UD’s Roger Glass Center for the Arts. The director of the university’s Core Integrated

Ohio’s Best Journalism Contest, sponsored by the Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus Society of Professional Journalists chapters statewide, announced July 3 that Dayton Jewish Observer Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss has received its 2024 first-place award for Best Religion Reporting in its small newspaper category (circulation below 60,000). This is the

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Cantor Andrea Raizen’s retirement from Beth Abraham Synagogue at the end of July marks the first time in a generation that no Dayton area Jewish congregation will employ an invested cantor. And due to financial constraints, Beth Abraham plans to only employ one

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer “It’s great in Dayton but Israel is home,” read a small hand-drawn banner taped to a refreshment table in the garden of Bracha and Yitzhak Zuriel’s home in Jerusalem. The Zuriels hosted a reunion for 40 former Daytonians — primarily baby boomers —