By Rabbi Bernard Barsky, Beth Abraham Synagogue If you don’t feel the outrage and shame of it, then at least acknowledge the irony. This nation, the land of the free, said to be founded on “Judeo-Christian values” — a four-millennia long tradition rooted in the ideas of redemption and covenant,

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

By Rabbi Bernard Barsky, Beth Abraham Synagogue, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, which is to be performed at Wright State University this month, has always carried the stigma of antisemitism. Its portrayal of the vengeful and avaricious Jewish moneylender Shylock belongs at first glance

Governor’s commemoration Daytonians will play key roles at the 25th Annual Governor’s Holocaust Commemoration on Wednesday, May 4 at noon in the North Hall of the Statehouse in downtown Columbus. The program will feature remarks from survivor Renate Frydman, chair of the Dayton Holocaust Committee and curator of From Prejudice

Religion, February 2011 By Rabbi Bernard Barsky, Beth Abraham Synagogue Most days it was Barry the Messiah who greeted me first when I entered the Brooklyn daycare center for those suffering from mental illness. I worked there for a year, 2002-03, as a rabbinic pastoral intern, and Barry had a