Joey Weisenberg, founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, will lead a weekend of spiritual musical experiences culminating with the installation of Beth Abraham Synagogue’s new rabbi, Aubrey L. Glazer, Aug. 25-27. Hadar’s mission is to empower Jews to create and sustain “vibrant, practicing, egalitarian Jewish communities of Torah,

Story and Photos By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Unless you’re living under a culinary rock, you know that All The Best Deli opened its restaurant and deli service in late June, just north of the new UDF at Far Hills and Whipp in Washington Township. In his favorite

Story and Photos By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer More than 60 middle and high school educators from across Ohio who teach about the Holocaust and genocide gathered in the Dayton area June 13 and 14 to participate in the Holocaust and Genocide Education Network of Ohio’s summer conference.

Two longtime Jewish Federation staff members have died in recent weeks: Mel Caplan at age 86 on June 23, and Karen Steiger at age 74 on July 7. Each was a steady presence during the eras in which they served the Jewish community. Mel Caplan arrived in Dayton in fall

Since the Covid pandemic has receded, some area congregations have seen an uptick in conversions. By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Israeli American Ofir Ravin, 27, beams from the front row of Beth Abraham Synagogue’s main sanctuary as her husband, Ryan Lechich, 25, is called for an aliyah to

Four veterans of World War II — which ended 78 years ago this September — attended Jewish War Veterans Dayton Post #587’s 75th Anniversary Brunch, held May 28 at Temple Beth Or. The oldest among them was Robert Kahn, 99, who escaped Nazi Germany following Kristallnacht. After his arrival in

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer The traveling version of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Americans and the Holocaust exhibit, on display through June 21 at the Dayton Metro Library’s main library, poses questions to those who take it in — What did Americans know? What more could have

By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA For a movie about the Holocaust, the Belarussian film Persian Lessons has some comic potential. Set in a concentration camp somewhere in Western Europe, it involves a Jewish inmate who survives by giving Farsi lessons to a Nazi officer who dreams about opening a restaurant in

By Stephen Silver, JTA The real Mordecai Samel, at the time in his late 70s, really didn’t want an iPhone in 2015. The Holocaust survivor who had been living in south Florida since 2004 didn’t see a need. His taped-together flip phone worked fine. But his son Marvin insisted. One

By Joanne Palmer, The Jewish Standard When we’re children, we are taught — and naturally tend to believe — that good things happen smoothly, that goodness always is straightforward. We don’t learn about complications and doubts, much less about working through them, until much later. We are taught and believe