By Rabbi Judith Chessin, Temple Beth Or I will never forget the insistence of my Classical Biblical Hebrew university professor that “the heroine of the book of Judith was not actually named Judith. This was merely an allusion to the fact that God used the agency of a mere woman

By Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or & Chair, Dayton Synagogue Forum The role of Jews in our nation’s civil rights movement is a source of pride for most in our community. We thrill to the iconic image of Abraham Joshua Heschel linking arms with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or, Washington Township, Ohio Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Who doesn’t fondly recall those kiddie costume pageants and carnivals in celebration of the festival of Purim? Growing up, my religious school classmates and I relished dressing up as Queen Esther or King Ahashverus,