The Dayton Jewish Observer, October 2025

Two years after Oct. 7, local Jewish stress civility, dialogue p. 3 David Moss designs Graceleaders After Meals in comic booklearning, form p. 22

THE DAYTON Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton

October 2025 Tishri/Cheshvan 5786 Vol. 30, No. 2

OBSERVER

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Musealia

Auschwitz exhibition comes to Cincinnati

L'Shanah Tovah to our dear Dayton friends

Wishing you the blessings of a good year

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Three ways to commemorate two years since Oct. 7 massacre The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton and its Jewish Community Relations Council will present two programs and a fundraiser to mark two years since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists from Gaza infiltrated Israel, brutally murdered more than 1,200 people there, and took 251 hostages.

JTA reports there are now 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza; 20 are presumed to be alive.

Last year, Israel's government selected the 24th of the Jewish month of Tishri, which coincided with Oct. 7, 2023, as the national remembrance day on which to mark the Hamas massacre each year. This year, 24 Tishri falls on Oct. 16.

Partnership2Gether remembrance

The Jewish Agency's Partnership2Gether program — which connects Dayton and 16 other Jewish communities across the central United States with Budapest, Hungary and Israel's Western Galilee region — will host a live one-hour Zoom memorial program at 10:30 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 28.

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Register with JCRC Director Jeff Blumer at jblumer@jfgd.net or at westerngalilee.org. il/calendar-of-events.

Metallux Studio

Screening of Torn

The JCRC will screen the final documentary in its threepart Israel in Focus series, Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on New York City Streets, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16 at The JCRC will screen the documentary Torn on the Boonshoft Center Oct. 16 as part of its Oct. 7 commemorations. for Jewish Culture and Education.

Fundraiser for HolonProduced and directed by based family of hostage Nim Shapira, Torn captures Through Oct. 12, the Jewish the emotional fallout of the Federation is also accepting Kidnapped poster campaign donations to aid the family of and the fierce confrontations Bar Kupershtein, a 22-year-old between pro-Israel and promedic and security guard who Palestinian New Yorkers. was taken hostage from the The screening and discussion Nova music festival Oct. 7, 2023 are free, with a grant from the while he was helping wounded Esther and DeNeal Feldman victims. He is believed to still Jewish Experience Fund of the be alive in Gaza.

Dayton Jewish Foundation.

Kupershtein's family lives in The Boonshoft CJCE is Holon, Israel, a Dayton Sislocated at 525 Versailles Dr., ter City. Since he was 17, He Centerville. was the main provider for his Register at jewishdayton.org/ mother and four younger sibevents. lings; his father was in a severe car accident four years ago and suffered multiple surgeries and a stroke, leaving him disabled and unable to walk or speak.

To donate to the Kupershtein family, go to jewishdayton.org/ agencies/jewish-federation/westand-with-israel.

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OSU Hillel MeshugaNotes

Dayton Hadassah presents OSU Hillel's a cappella group, the MeshugaNotes, 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 5. Founded in 1999, the "Shugs" sing OSU spirit songs, oldies, current radio music, and classic and contemporary Hebrew songs, all arranged by current or past members.

The venue will be provided upon registration, which is required. The cost is $20. Register by Sept. 29 to events.hadassah. org/DaytonNotes or send a check, payable to Hadassah (indicate MeshugaNotes in the memo line), to Dayton Hadassah, c/o Hadassah Midwest, 900 Skokie Blvd., Suite 295, Northbrook, IL 60062.

Arts..............................24 Ca l e n da r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 7

Mazel Tov.................................19 Obituaries........................... 27

Bar Kupershtein of Holon, Israel, a hostage held by Hamas operatives in Gaza, shown on a Hostages and Missing Families Forum flyer.

O p i n i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 2 Religion.......................... 20

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

DAYTON

Two years after Oct. 7, leaders stress civility, learning, dialogue

By Marshall Weiss The Observer "On Oct. 7 and 8, 2023, there was a uniform feeling in our Jewish community of outrage and compassion, caring and concern for the people of Israel and the State of Israel," says Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton CEO Cathy Gardner.

What started to emerge in the Jewish community on Oct. 9 was what Gardner calls "micro opinions" on questions of: Why did this happen? How could it have happened? Why at this magnitude? What about what's happening with the Palestinians?

"As a Jewish Federation, we stand with Israel, with the right for Israel to exist and to defend itself, and that is full stop," Gardner says.

"Beyond that, it's not black and white when it comes to Israel. There are so many opinions on this continuum. We hear so many comments in relation to our Israel programs and activities along that continuum, including from those who only see Israel in absolute terms."

Israelis and their government are at odds over which priority outweighs the other: to broker a deal with Hamas (which

would keep Hamas leadership in place for now) and bring the remaining hostages home, or to fully destroy Hamas — if that's possible — even at the cost of the hostages.

Along with Israelis, Jews in America are at odds over the justifiability of the cost in lives and suffering to the people of Gaza — human shields for Hamas terrorists.

"These are very strong emotions about what's happening, and they're deep, deep emotions," Gardner says.

"And the continuum of micro opinions goes from A to double Z. That's how many spots there are on the continuum."

Some in the Dayton area's Jewish community are not immune to making their opinions known stridently on social media, lobbing personal attacks on those who disagree with them.

But the rabbis The Observer spoke with said the wrenching divisions among American Jews related to the Israel-Hamas war have not spilled over into their worship services, classes, and programs.

"I'm sure there are people that are more pro-Israel and less pro-Israel, but I haven't heard anything directly," Rabbi Leibel

'These are very strong emotions about what's happening'

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Yiddishe Llama

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Agar of Beth Jacob Congregation says of his congregants.

"For the years that I've been here, something I've noticed about the community is we are united. It's not separate enclaves or pockets. We have a united front when it comes to major issues. There will always be people who say you can do more or you're doing too much.

Regardless of our personal politics, we can put it a little bit aside and say this is something we can all stand behind."

Chabad of Greater Dayton's Rabbi Nochum Mangel says he doesn't see contention at Chabad over the Israel-Hamas war either.

"That doesn't mean there isn't discussion, and it doesn't mean there's no questions," he adds.

"But there's definitely extreme support for our brothers and sisters living in the land of Israel."

'What does Torah say?'

A rabbi's function, Mangel says, is to answer questions from a Torah perspective. "We have a 3,500-year history that sadly, we've had to deal with many of these issues, and they were addressed. We all have our own personal feelings. We all see things and interpret things in different ways. But as Jews, the ultimate arbitrator is the Torah and is God. And then, what does Torah say about these issues? And when

From the editor’s desk

Sometimes I have a theme in mind for an edition of The Observer. Sometimes a theme finds its way to us. The one that found us for this edition is the value of not shutting down debate. It's a knee-jerk reaction to champion free Marshall speech for ideas one supports but to Weiss consider ideas one does not support as beyond the boundaries of reasonable discourse.

Ideas we support may appear to us as morally correct and those we don't support as morally repugnant. Ideas we support, we call social justice. Ideas we don't, we call "getting political." Ideas beyond the boundaries of reasonable discourse and that are morally repugnant do exist on the extreme edges, which I believe bend together like the ends of a horseshoe. We see that, for example, with antisemitism. But how do we determine when an idea goes beyond the pale? A first step to think and analyze critically: Consider what others think, but don't let others do the thinking for you.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

Rabbi Leibel Agar, Beth Jacob Cong.

Rabbi Karen BodneyHalasz, Temple Israel

there are two sides to an issue, two different opinions, that has to be discussed as well."

The serious questions regarding Israel, Mangel says, include choosing one life over another, and shortterm versus long-term objectives.

"Instead of animos- Jewish Federation CEO Cathy Gardner ity —where people are Continued on Page Four

Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or

Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Chabad

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What Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz says she experiences at Temple Israel has less to do with divisiveness and Continued from Page Three absolutely sure that they know the more to do with big feelings. answer and demonize the other side "I think the divisions have already — we hope to create an environment been there that have been articulatwhere there can be a healthy discused," she says. "People have very, very sion and learning from the text or strong concerns about Israel and how from history. Hopefully, that can give it impacts them, how it impacts the us some insights or some clarity, or at Jewish community, how it impacts least concern or prayer, for those who our relationship to other people, and have to make the decisions and those whether or not we should be using who have to implement them." our voices externally or internally."

In one of Chabad's Jewish LeaderOf the Jewish community as a ship Institute classes, Mangel says, whole, she saw and heard a lot of the Jewish value of redemption of arguments and disagreements at the captives became a point of discusbeginning of the Israel-Hamas war sion based on an article Temple Beth and as it progressed.

Or's Rabbi Judy Chessin wrote on the "But at this point, people know topic for The Observer (February 2025). where other people stand, and have "We have people on every side of decided they want to just avoid the the equation, and I think people tend topic. I don't know that it will be the to group themselves in their own case next month." opinion groups anyway, kind of naturally," Chessin says of her congreBuilding safe spaces gants. "I don't see any big divisions Federation CEO Cathy Gardner or, 'I'll never go back there' kinds of says that along with traditional feelings. support for the people of Israel, she "Social media and the mood of the has a responsibility to provide safe time — which really develops divispaces for healthy conversations and siveness and almost celebrates it and learning among people in the Jewish creates it — makes it look terrible. community, and among Jews and But I think one of the people from other things Judaism does communities. really well is it alThe safest converlows for debate, and sation to have, she strong and verbal says, is "not who's debate, as long as right or wrong, it's done in a healthy but what are your way that doesn't feelings about this cause violence." situation? Because Chessin says it's you can't argue with best for congregafeelings." tions to provide spaces for people to She cites the Federation's Upair their differences. stander Project, facilitated by Jewish "We've always been a quarrelsome Community Relations Council Chair group," she says of the Jewish people, Bonnie Beaman Rice and JCRC Direc"and I think that's healthy and good tor Jeff Blumer, as where much of for dialogue, so I'm not particularly these conversations take place. distressed or feel that this division is Dozens of people beyond the stronger than other things we've had Jewish community participate in the debates about."

Upstander Project.

She says the High Holidays let con"It's people from any community gregants grapple with issues further. that has experienced being an 'other,'" "I've always tried to give sermons Gardner says. "The purpose is to see that are based on the Jewish values each other as human beings and to behind the different sides of argucreate those relationships. We need ments and let people make their own each other today, and we need each decisions," Chessin says. "There are other down the road. People need to really good, grounded Jewish argusee that we care for each other, even if ments on all sides of almost every we're at opposite ends." issue. Putting those out there and After the Hamas massacre, the allowing people to think about it that Upstanders met and talked in pairs way is what my job is. about how they were feeling.

"I have personal opinions, but they don't care what I think. What they Now go and learn care about is what Judaism thinks and Since Oct. 7, 2023, Gardner adds, says and teaches. So that has been my the Federation has rolled out and conapproach for 40 years. I've had people tinues to offer learning opportunities say to me, 'Oh, I know you believe on about Israel and its war with Hamas. the left,' 'I know you believe on the "I've heard from people in the right.' To me, that's a sign of success." Jewish community that they don't

'People need to see that we care for each other, even if we're at opposite ends.'

OBSERVER daytonjewishobserver.org Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss mweiss@jfgd.net 937-610-1555 Contributors Candace R. Kwiatek, Rabbi Tina Sobo Advertising Sales Executive Patty Caruso, plhc69@gmail.com Administrative Assistant Samantha Daniel, sdaniel@jfgd.net 937-610-1555 Billing Sheila Myers, smyers@jfgd.net 937-610-1555 Proofreaders Linda Brotkin, Rachel Haug Gilbert Steven H. Solomon Observer Advisor Martin Gottlieb Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Dan Sweeny President Marni Flagel President Elect Meredith Levinson Secretary Neil Friedman Treasurer Ben Mazer VP Personnel Teddy Goldenberg VP Resource Dev. Mary Rita Weissman Immed. Past Pres.

Cathy Gardner CEO The Dayton Jewish Observer, Vol. 30, No. 2. The Dayton Jewish Observer is published monthly by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, a nonprofit corporation, 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459.

Views expressed by columnists, in readers’ letters, and in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of staff or layleaders of The Dayton Jewish Observer or the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. Acceptance of advertising neither endorses advertisers nor guarantees kashrut.

The Dayton Jewish Observer Mission Statement To support, strengthen and champion the Dayton Jewish community by providing a forum and resource for Jewish community interests.

Goals • To encourage affiliation, involvement and communication.

• To provide announcements, news, opinions and analysis of local, national and international activities and issues affecting Jews and the Jewish community.

• To build community across institutional, organizational and denominational lines.

• To advance causes important to the strength of our Jewish community including support of Federation agencies, its annual campaign, synagogue affiliation, Jewish education and participation in Jewish and general community affairs.

• To provide an historic record of Dayton Jewish life.

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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

DAYTON know the history of the founding of the state of Israel," she says. "People have come to me and say they don't understand.

We've tapped into our national Federation system."

Another safe space for diverse viewpoints, she says, is JCRC's Israel in Focus film series, screenings and discussions of documentaries about Oct. 7.

"Federation has done a great job of having programs making people aware of what's going on," Beth Jacob's Rabbi Leibel Agar says.

He's had congregants volunteer with the IDF through SarEl. "They came back and shared what it was like over there and how they're still in contact with the friends they made from all over the world."

Temple Israel's Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz says her congregants have asked for more information about the IsraelHamas war.

"They're willing to learn more at this point, which is

good. But I also think when they ask for it, what they really mean is that they want a place to express their conflicted feelings."

That's why Temple Israel Rabbi Emeritus David Sofian, who lives much of the year in Modi'in, Israel, will offer a fourweek course this fall on rabbinic and biblical perspectives of the war in Gaza and war in general while he's in Dayton for the High Holidays.

He'll also lead a discussion about happenings in Israel — It's Been Some Year, and I Don't

'The sages of the Talmud don't shut down debate.'

Dayton String Trio

Mean That in a Good Way — in October as part of Temple Israel's Brotherhood Ryterband Lecture Series.

"We'll likely have people from all different perspectives joining that conversation," Bodney-Halasz says.

It's a tribute to the strength of Jewish lore, Temple Beth Or's Rabbi Judy Chessin says, to give two opinions.

"You know, the Talmud gives one opinion and the other, and allows people to make their own choices," she says.

"I think that's part of the resilience of Judaism. The sages of the Talmud don't shut down debate. They don't shut down one side or the other."

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Auschwitz exhibition comes to Cincinnati

Musealia

Temple Beth Or Future Fund Honoring Rabbi Judy Chessin For four decades, Rabbi Judy Chessin has been the heart and soul of Temple Beth Or. As our founding and Dayton’s longestserving rabbi since 1985, she has guided our congregation with wisdom, warmth, and unwavering dedication.

SUPPORTING OUR FUTURE NEEDS & GROWTH Help to ensure Rabbi Chessin’s vision continues to shape and uplift generations to come through four key pillars: CLERGY & STAFFING EDUCATION PROGRAMS SECURITY, BUILDING & GROUNDS

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Contact Temple Beth Or to learn more.

TO MAKE YOUR PLEDGE, please complete our PLEDGE FORM online at templebethor.com/futurefund or return the form to the Temple Office.

5275 Marshall Rd, Dayton, OH 45429 (937) 435-3400 | templebethor.com TBODayton PAGE 6

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A child's dress, one of more than 500 artifacts to be on display at Cincinnati Union Terminal as part of the exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.

An interview with Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center CEO Jackie Congedo

By Marshall Weiss, The Observer With more than 500 original artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland and 20 institutions around the world, the exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. makes a Midwest stop at Cincinnati Union Terminal, Oct. 18 through April 12, 2026.

It's presented by Cincinnati Museum Center and the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center (HHC) — both housed at Union Terminal.

Here, HHC CEO Jackie Congedo shares what visitors can expect amid artifacts from the Nazis' complex of death camps in Poland at which they exterminated 1.1 million people, nearly 1 million of whom were Jews. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did the exhibition come about?

My colleague Elizabeth Pierce, who runs the Cincinnati Museum Center, is closely connected with other similar civic museums. And when this was at Kansas City, Mo. Union Station (in 2021), her colleague there talked about how meaningful this massive exhibition was for the entire community and how it really united the community around a shared sense of civic responsibility. It's only been in a handful of cities in North America. It's the largest collection of artifacts outside Auschwitz.

Elizabeth, as she heard about this, immediately said it has to be in Cincinnati. We have this incredible connection to Union Terminal. HHC is located in a building where survivors took their first steps at rebuilding their lives. We have this deeply meaningful, authentic space. I understand they were considering Chicago as well. And once the traveling exhibition team, the curatorial team, the production team saw the

terminal and our museum, they realized yes, this is where it should go. Relatively few venues can host something of this magnitude.

It was in Boston and it's coming here from Toronto. We are the last planned stop in North America. Then it returns to Europe.

How will you augment the exhibition with local connections, resources, people?

We've been able to add certain elements that bring forward local stories.

The first words people will hear are of Werner Coppel, who was a survivor of Auschwitz. He rebuilt his life in Cincinnati. And it will be his words talking about how he arrived in this building with a wife, a suitcase, and a baby, and that ended the first part of his life.

We have local survivor testimony, local survivors of Auschwitz throughout.

There's a room towards the end of the exhibition that's fully dedicated to the survivors of Auschwitz, almost exclusively local. We have artifacts from local survivors' stories and lives.

Visitors will look at the scope and scale of this enormous atrocity and the level of deliberate intentionality and planning that went into mass murder.

You cannot leave the exhibition withAuschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. will be on exhibition at Cincinnati Union Terminal under the auspices of Cincinnati Museum Center and the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, Oct. 18-April 12, 2026, 1301 Western Ave., Cincinnati. Information about individual tickets is available at cincymuseum.org/Auschwitz. For group sales, call 513-287-7021 or email groupvisits@cincymuseum.org.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

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communities? shares that this is How can we rise the kind of thing as upstanders a Jewish boy on today? his bar mitzvah We've designed would receive. a student experiIt would be with ence (the exhibit him through all is appropriate for these meaningful 2419 Far Hills Ave grades seven to ceremonial ritual Oakwood, OH 45419 12) that includes events throughout an hour in the 937.461.9450 his life.

Auschwitz exhibiAnd it says, this Tue-Fri 10-5:30 tion and an hour Wolf Holocaust & Humanity isn't something we Sat 10-4 at the Holocaust Center CEO Jackie Congedo should be able to Jaffejewelry.com and Humanity see, because this Center. There will be a lot of human being was denied a opportunities for self-explorabasic right to a burial, a proper tion. burial. His life was stolen from We were really deliberate in him. This artifact should be the contextual resources that with him. But instead, we have we built and are sharing with it because of the way this atrocteachers to make sure that this ity unfolded. history falls within the broader And the questions that we arc of the Jewish story, includhave to ask ourselves today ing, what is Jewish identity, are, what choices are we makwhat is antisemitism. These ing that outline whether we two things are not exclusively will lead into the dark or into co-located with the Holocaust. the light? All of these pieces Musealia Jewish identity, Jewish in different ways help to bring history predates the Hothat story to light. locaust. And antisemitism We're expecting big crowds, unfortunately persists. so you want to get your tickets We've also been working as much as you can in advance. with folks who are giants There will be a robust slate in the space of Holocaust of public programs that aceducation — in Dayton, company this exhibition over Renate Frydman and the next six months, including others — to help us think guest lectures. about how we can lift up, And we'll have a weekly spotlight those stories. debrief session on the weekends during high-volume Formerly Formerly What are some artifacts times, called Circles of Humanthat speak to you personity, where we'll have our team ally in this exhibition? there to facilitate some debrief Formerly Each piece is intentionfor people and start to guide ally chosen to add a difthem towards the question Formerly about what's our role to play A gas mask and can of Zyklon B gas used ferent dimension to how today and how can we channel in Auschwitz will be on display at Cincin- we understand the history.

One of the first is a prayer our character, strengths, be the nati Union Terminal with the exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. shawl. The audio tour best of humanity in our time.

out feeling totally sober and in awe of the level of deliberate, efficient, meticulous planning and documentation done to execute this genocide. That's important for people to reckon with and to wrestle with.

We want people to come through and feel the weight of this in a way that is challenging for them and productive and motivating.

We're trying to encourage people to make this one part of a two-part visit to Union Terminal, either on the day they come to see the exhibition or, if you buy a ticket to the Auschwitz exhibition, you get a discounted ticket to HHC and you can use that for six months.

And the way HHC does that is to partner with the VIA Institute on Character's tools that show people how to pursue the best of humanity. What does it look like and how do we rise to that in ourselves and in our

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O C TO B E R & N OV E M B E R E V E N TS OPENING EVENT Sunday, October 19 at 2PM In partnership with the University of Dayton Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Department of Music, Alumni Chair in the Humanities, and Jewish Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy WOMEN'S Jewish Federation PHILANTHROPY ®

OF GREATER DAYTON

Featuring performances by student ensembles and faculty of the University of Dayton Department of Music, including Bella Voce, directed by Professor Paula Powell.

University of Dayton - Roger Glass Center for the Arts (29 Creative Way, Dayton 45479), Free parking nearby in Lot S-1 Cost: $10 (No cost to full-time students with valid student ID) Includes dessert reception Jane Eisner, Carole King: She Made the Earth Move As part of Yale University’s Jewish Lives series, renowned journalist Jane Eisner has written a biography of the iconic singer and songwriter. Carole King: She Made the Earth Move delves into Carole King’s origins in a working-class section of Brooklyn and her marriage to husband and collaborator Gerry Goffin. Together they wrote for artists such as the Shirelles, Aretha Franklin, The Animals, The Monkees and many others. King’s solo career produced a body of work that is stunning. Her groundbreaking album Tapestry held the record for longest charting album by a female soloist for over 40 years and earned four Grammy awards. Drawing on numerous interviews as well as historic and contemporary sources, this book brings to life King’s professional accomplishments, her personal challenges, and her lasting contributions to the Great American Songbook.

Sunday, November 9 at 2PM In Partnership with Washington-Centerville Public Library, Hadassah, and JCC Book Club Woodbourne Library (6060 Far Hills Avenue, Centerville, 45459) No Cost, preregistration required to ensure adequate seating.

Barbara Josselsohn, The Forgotten Italian Restaurant: A breathtaking and absolutely gripping World War Two historical romance The Forgotten Italian Restaurant is the third and concluding book in author and teacher Barbara Josselsohn’s series, Sisters of War. The story alternates between World War II and the present day. When her sister died, Callie went back to her family home in Connecticut where she found an old, faded menu that sheds light on her grandmother’s secret life in Caccipulia, Italy. This intergenerational story ties Callie to her grandmother and sheds light on the reason her grandmother left Italy. When Callie arrives in the village of Caccipulia with the faded menu she found in Connecticut, she meets a café owner who helps expose the secret that will change everything. The novel explores themes of family, identity, forgiveness, and the courage to heal while vividly depicting Italian wartime life and later day village life.

MEN'S Jewish Federation PHILANTHROPY ®

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Thursday, November 20 at 6:30PM In partnership with Jewish Federation’s Men’s Philanthropy The Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture & Education (525 Versailles Drive, Centerville, 45459) Cost: $10 Includes tailgate party supper with hot dogs, chips, dessert, pop and beer – vegetarian option available

Bill Rabinowitz, Buckeye Brotherhood: How Ohio State Navigated A New World To Win A National Championship with foreword by Urban Meyer Bill Rabinowitz was the Columbus Dispatch’s longtime Ohio State beat writer, covering the Buckeyes since 2011. He is also the author of Buckeye Rebirth, written about the team’s 2012 undefeated season and The Chase. In his current work, Buckeye Brotherhood, Bill takes readers inside the Ohio State Buckeye’s run to their first national championship in a decade. Much had changed in the ten years since the last championship. OSU was able to place losses to Michigan and Oregon behind them and build their own brand of football. In doing so, they brought glory back to OSU.

To purchase tickets for in-person events or to register for free events, please visit jewishdayton.org/events or call 937-610-1555

Jewish Community Center OF GREATER DAYTON

PAGE 8

THE CULTURAL ARTS AND BOOK SERIES IS THE RECIPIENT OF A MONTGOMERY COUNTY ARTS AND CULTURAL DISTRICT SPECIAL PROJECTS GRANT. THIS GRANT IS ADMINISTRATED BY CULTURE WORKS. THIS SERIES IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

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LifeWise Academy will be in nearly half of Ohio school districts this school year

Megan Henry/Ohio Capital Journal

Dayton-area rabbi and mom says children at her congregation have heard antisemitic comments from classmates returning from LifeWise.

By Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal LifeWise Academy, a Hilliard-based religious instruction program, will be in almost half of Ohio’s public school districts this school year.

The academy will now be in 613 Ohio schools in 303 school districts for the 2025-26 school year, said Christine Czernejewski, a spokesperson for LifeWise.

In January, LifeWise was in about 160 Ohio school districts — a nearly 90% increase since the start of the calendar year.

The academy’s new count comes after a new law took effect in April that requires Ohio school districts to have a religious-release time policy. The previous law merely permitted a policy.

“While the recent clarification in Ohio law has helped reinforce districts’

ability to offer release-time religious instruction, the growth is primarily driven by increased demand from families across the state,” Czernejewski said. “Communities have been proactively bringing LifeWise to their local schools because they understand the positive impact of Bible education during school hours.”

LifeWise operates in 34 states and plans to enroll nearly 100,000 students this year, according to its website.

“Demand for LifeWise is surging, and we couldn’t be more excited to see families taking advantage of our programming, from urban areas to remote towns,” said CEO Joel Penton.

The nondenominational Christian program teaches the Bible to public school students over the school day,

'The curriculum teaches that because my kids are Jewish and don't believe in Jesus, we're going to hell.'

and started in Ohio in 2019. The courses usually take place during lunch or elective courses.

But LifeWise has its critics.

LifeWise Academy is a Hilliard-based religious inParents have said their children have been ostracized and bullied struction program. It operates in 34 states and plans to enroll nearly 100,000 students this year. for not taking part in LifeWise.

“These kids are affected when they Religious instruction don’t go,” said Zachary Parrish, a parunder the law ent who had LifeWise file a lawsuit The United States Supreme Court against him for copyright infringement. upheld release time laws in the 1952 “They feel left out. They don’t underZorach v. Clauson case, which allowed stand why their parents aren’t letting a school district to have students leave them go.” school for part of the day to receive Parrish now lives in Fort Wayne, Ind., religious instruction. but his daughter was a second-grader Religious release time instruction in Defiance City Schools in 2021 and he must meet three criteria: the courses isn't surprised Ohio has seen such an must take place off school property, be uptick in districts offering the religious privately funded, and students must classes. have parental permission.

“They’ve been in Ohio the longest,” Tina Sobo, a rabbi at Temple Israel he said. “They’ve got the most connecin Dayton and mom of two students in tions in Ohio. It’s where the organizaMiamisburg Schools, said students in tion is from. It’s where all the leaderher congregation have heard antisemitic ship is from.” comments from their classmates when Continued on Page 27

KEEPING the ARTS

Performing The Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the arts is Dayton’s only community Foundation that funds our professional performing arts of music, theatre and dance.

As we celebrate our 60th year, we look forward to keeping that legacy alive for the next generation.

BR

AT ING

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Learn how you can play your part too.

YEARS THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

VISIT // MiriamRosenthalFoundation.org

PAGE 9

DAYTON Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz

Temple Israel congregants picking apples for Rosh Hashanah at Monnin's Fruit Farm. (L to R): Joseph Evans, Rachel Sobo, Rachel Evans, and Jacob Evans.

Rochel Simon

Hannah Eby shows a toy shofar to her daughter, Eliana, at a Chabad Jewish Beginnings: Mommy & Me session, a twicea-month Sunday morning program for moms and kids 0-4.

Beth Abraham Synagogue

Dayton Metro Library supports digital equity.

Our 17 branches and website offer loanable laptops, public desktop computers, wireless hotspots, streaming services, adaptive technology, and more.

Learn more at

DaytonMetroLibrary.org or by calling the Ask Me Desk at 937.463.2665.

PAGE 10

The Levys brought their dogs to Beth Abraham Synagogue for its Maaseh religious school's Blessing of the Animals event. Students learned about the Jewish value of tza'ar baalei chayim, not distressing or causing suffering to animals. They also came up with and awarded prizes for the dogs, such as Most Likely to Sport a Kipah Well, Showing the Most Chesed (lovingkindness), and Most Likely to Have Shpilkes (nervous energy) During Services. The children also collected dog and cat food for the Humane Society's Golden Ears Program, which ensures that those who receive Senior Resource Connection's Meals on Wheels also have food for their pets.

Kate Elder

Kids having a playground of fun at PJ Library and Chabad's Shabbat in the Park at Schoolhouse Park in Centerville. Dinner was catered by Max McGarity and Smoked on Chai Kosher BBQ of Columbus. PJ Library, through the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, sends free Jewish children’s books each month to local families with Jewish connections, and regularly presents Jewish-themed family events. It aims to strengthen families’ connections to Jewish values, traditions, celebrations, and each other.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

THE REGION Monuments Men and Women Foundation

Ohio auction house halts sale of paintings looted during the Holocaust, billed as ‘unclaimed property’

By Grace Gilson, JTA Two 17th-century paintings were pulled from auction after a Holocaust art restitution organization determined they had been looted from a German Jew’s collection in France during World War II. The paintings, believed to be by Dutch artist Ambrosius Bosschaert, were to be sold at an auction house in Newark, Ohio in September until a tip submitted to the Monuments Men and Women Foundation prompted the group to intervene.

The foundation, dedicated to recovering European artworks stolen during World War II and named for the Allied military group, researched and discovered the pieces originally belonged to the family of Adolphe Schloss, a German Jew whose 333-work collection was seized and divided by the Nazis during World War II. The discovery comes weeks after Argentine police recovered a painting that the Nazis looted from a Dutch Jewish art dealer during the Holocaust.

The paintings in the auction in Ohio underscore how many looted works have yet to be recovered and the range of circumstances in which they are being found.

The Schloss collection, including the two paintings discovered in Ohio, was stored at Hitler’s headquarters in

Munich before being stolen in the final days of the war as Allied forces entered the city.

Paintings believed to be by Ambrosius Bosschaert Schloss’ children recovered by Monuments Men & Women Found. survived (he had died in 2010) but were reunited ing this lead, the foundation documented the provenance with only some of their art. of the works that supports the After receiving the tip about Schloss ownership, inspected the art sale in Ohio, Robert the two paintings in person, Edsel, founder and chair of the attained the cooperation of the Monuments Men and Women auction house to remove the Foundation, flew to Newark pictures from their sale, and to meet with the owners of the Apple Tree Auction Center and reached out to the attorney for the Schloss heirs,” Edsel said in explain the painting’s history. a statement.

“Within 48 hours of receiv-

No one does fall better.

A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

If you have wanted to learn Hebrew but never had the opportunity...the time is now!

The Board of Beth Jacob Congregation is pleased to announce that Beth Jacob will host the National Jewish Outreach Program’s “HEBREW READING CRASH COURSE” The course will be taught in eight sessions and will be held Tuesday mornings from 10:30—11:30 AM. Class will run October 21 — December 9.

There is no charge, but pre-registration is required so that materials will be ready.

Call the office at 937-274-2149 to register.

Bring a friend...we’re going to have fun…we’ll learn to read the most beautiful language in the world!!!

Instructor: Chaya Vidal

Beth Jacob Congregation 7020 N. Main Street Dayton OH 45415 937-274-2149

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PAGE 11

OPINION

Our season of reckoning: Israel’s moral crossroads

By Yossi Klein Halevi , Times of Israel In the Jewish season of self-reckoning, many of us struggle to make moral sense of this new era that began on Oct. 7. To be an ambivalent Jew today is not to be uncertain so much as torn between conflicting certainties.

We know Israel’s war against Iran and its proxies is unavoidable. We know any nation in our place would have reacted to Hamas’ mass atrocities as we did. We know we face an enemy willing to commit any crime and that the IDF is fighting under conditions that would test the moral limits of any army.

We know the young Israelis who have fought for months, many for nearly two years, are among the most heroic and self-sacrificing this country has produced. We know Israel is subject to a relentless campaign of lies, half-truths, distortions, and convenient omissions.

We know the outrageous accusation of genocide against Israel only diverts the world’s focus from radical Islamism, the truly genocidal side in this conflict.

But we also know that something has gone very wrong in Gaza. That two years of fighting the most brutal war in Israel’s history has inevitably affected the standards and behavior of parts of the IDF (though we don’t yet know to what extent). That the Netanyahu government, a coalition of the fanatical and the corrupt, is disgracing the Jewish state. That, if implemented, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s chilling description of the goals of this next phase of the war — total destruction and mass emigration of Palestinians — will implicate us in a war crime.

That once-marginal fanatics among the settler community are protected by government patrons as they burn, injure, and occasionally kill. That even as Jews around the world face a familiar hatred hiding behind a new name, we are no longer innocent.

At the heart of this war lies a tension between two moral imperatives.

First is to protect innocent lives on the most complicated battlefield the IDF, or perhaps any army, has fought. Second is to deny terrorism the ability to hide behind innocents and thereby achieve immunity.

Even when fighting an existential war against enemies without moral restraint, there are limits to what is morally permitted to the Jewish state. And given the nature of our enemy and the threats against us, there are limits to the selfrecrimination Jews should assume.

The Israeli public has avoided a moral conversation about the war for understandable reasons. Though two years have passed since the Hamas massacre, we grieve, enraged and afraid.

So, what do you think?

PAGE 12

Polls show that many Israelis are no longer certain about the country’s longterm prospects. Hardly the emotional state conducive to moral self-inquiry.

The wounds of Oct. 7 have been pried open by a global lynch mob. Every red line has been crossed — from hunting Israelis on the streets of Amsterdam to burning to death an elderly Jew in Boulder, Co. protesting for the hostages.

Why, outsiders wonder, have Israelis been so desensitized to Palestinian suffering? Perhaps, in part, because Palestinian suffering has been weaponized — not only against the legitimacy of the war but of the Jewish state. For no other country is the right to exist dependent on its moral conduct.

The lies and wild exaggerations — the baseless warnings of imminent mass starvation in Gaza that began immediately after Oct. 7, the attempt to downgrade or ignore the number of Hamas combatants among Gaza’s casualties — accumulate with such rapidity that scarcely have we begun to address one distortion when another is upon us.

Perhaps the most daunting obstacle to a moral self-examination among Israelis is that in this war, morality itself has been weaponized in the service of terrorism. Hamas’ greatest asset is the outraged conscience.

How then, do we subject ourselves to moral self-critique? How dare we risk inadvertently reinforcing the campaign of hatred and lies?

Because we have no choice. Preserving our moral credibility is essential for our strength. We cannot let the haters determine the inner life of the Jewish people. Engaging in moral introspection reminds us that Zionism has won and that, even though we are vulnerable, we are no longer victims. We owe an accounting of our actions to our friends who have stood with us.

Most of all, Judaism demands it. This season of self-reckoning is intended not only for individual Jews but also — in fact primarily — for the Jewish collective. Undergoing this process as a people doesn’t weaken us. It provides spiritual protection.

Just as we need a language to defend ourselves against the lies and distortions, we need a parallel language in which we struggle with the moral dilemmas raised by this war. Those of us who love Israel must not forfeit the moral conversation to Jews who have despaired of Israel or who openly side with our enemies.

Simultaneously defending and critiquing ourselves requires two different tones. In confronting the anti-Zionist mob, we must respond with outrage Continued on Page 26

A destructive impulse to moralize on zero-sum conflict

By Jonathan S. Tobin, JNS In certain sectors of Jewish life, the act of distancing oneself from the actions of an Israel forced to defend itself against not just critics but terrorists, like those of Hamas, which led the Palestinian Arab attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has become an all-toocommon expression of virtue-signaling for many on the Jewish left.

These “as a Jew” detractors are legion in the current environment in which some in the Jewish world seek to remain in sync with their erstwhile allies, who have abandoned any vestige of support for Jewish rights or empathy for Israel’s dilemmas since Oct. 7. While they are easy to dismiss, those who approach this idea of a cheshbon hanefesh (soul searching) for Israel from a position of Israeli patriotism and belief in Zionism should not be dismissed out of hand.

One such person is Yossi Klein Halevi, the author of some interesting books about Israel, and looked to by many as a voice of Jewish conscience.

Halevi has earned the right to be taken seriously even by those who disagree with him. But his latest column in the Times of Israel nevertheless deserves a response, precisely because he is seeking to engage in a discussion about the current situation without necessarily accepting the premise of Israel’s unfair detractors.

Indeed, Halevi goes a long way toward debunking the entire premise of High Holiday critiques of Israel by knocking down as patently false many of the assumptions that its foes have accepted about its behavior.

But he then goes on to argue that the war being fought against Hamas is a failure. He backs this up with a partisan polemic about the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being “a coalition of the fanatical and the corrupt, (that) is disgracing the Jewish state.”

That resembles his musings from the months before Oct. 7, when he was among those disingenuously arguing that Netanyahu’s government was a threat to democracy because it attempted to reform and rein in an outof-control, all-powerful judiciary. It was Halevi’s side in that dispute that was seeking to enshrine an undemocratic rule of elites as part of a culture war of liberal secularists against Mizrahi, religious and nationalist Israeli voters, in which Halevi was an unlikely recruit for the former.

The wrongheaded nature of this jeremiad is not so much a matter of the awfulness of the current coalition or worries about the conduct of the war, important though those topics may be.

It is Halevi’s advocacy for what he calls “ambivalence” about the conflict, as he decries those who either think Israel can do no wrong or no right, that needs to be addressed.

Both extremes are foolish, though the latter is not so much mistaken as it is culpable for the way it is consciously aiding Hamas’ goal of destroying the Jewish state and achieving the genocide of its population.

Moderation in all things is a good general principle to adopt in most circumstances. But not always.

Moderation was key to one of the genuine insights Halevi has offered his readers in the past, when he pointed out more than a decade ago that the old leftright divide in Israel was outdated. He was right to say that in the aftermath of the collapse of the Oslo peace process in 2000 and the evacuation of Gaza in 2005, which resulted in a Hamas terrorist state, the old arguments no longer made sense. The Israeli left had been wrong to believe that the Palestinians desired peace, and the Israeli right was wrong to think that it could ignore the reality of a hostile population that neither wanted a two-state solution nor could be absorbed into the Jewish one.

Unfortunately, he or anyone else has yet to come up with a way to solve that problem without endangering Israel.

Still, he put aside that moderation when the Israeli right won a clear majority in the Knesset elections of November 2022.

Oct. 7 brought a reminder that the hopes of peaceful coexistence with a people whose national identity is inextricably linked to a permanent war against the Jews must be indefinitely postponed until sometime in a theoretical and far-off future when they are ready to change. Moreover, the willingness of so much of the international community and political left to join forces with Islamists meant that the sort of principled and righteous moderation that Halevi advocates for is simply an insufficient response to the current crisis.

Even worse, he argues that the “invasion of Gaza City, many of us fear, will be a strategic and moral disaster” because it will not achieve any military goal and will further tarnish Israel’s good name by an immoral amount of Palestinian suffering. He thinks that requires Jews to join in a moral outcry to stop the government.

Yet that assertion falls flat. That’s not because the war has been conducted without mistakes, or that it is a certainty that Netanyahu’s plans are foolproof, or even because bad things will happen to those Palestinians who have been put in Continued on Page 26

Views expressed by columnists, in readers’ letters, and in opinion Send letters (350 words max.) to The Dayton Jewish Observer, pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of staff or layleaders of 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459 • MWeiss@jfgd.net The Dayton Jewish Observer or the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

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UPCOMING EVENTS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 5:30 - 7:30PM PJ Library Down on the Farm THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 6:30 - 9PM Israel in Focus: A Three-Part Documentary Series SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2 - 4PM CABS Opening Event – Jane Eisner, Carole King: She Made the Earth Move MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1 - 3PM Jewish Dayton at the Foodbank

Connect with us! Check out our events.

For more information, check out our calendar at jewishdayton.org.

Thursday, October 16, 6:30PM Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture & Education 525 Versailles Drive, Centerville, 45459

Torn (2025) A thought-provoking look at how NYC streets became a battleground over “KIDNAPPED” posters — exploring identity, empathy, and freedom of expression post-10/7.

A Three-Part Documentary Series concludes.

This powerful series features film screenings and discussions exploring the events of 10/7 — a day that forever altered the course of Israeli history and impacted the lives of Jews around the world.

Made possible by a grant from the Esther and DeNeal Feldman Jewish Experience Fund

No charge. RSVP online at jewishdayton.org/events.

Questions? Contact Jeff Blumer at jblumer@jfgd.net.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

PAGE 13

October 2025 JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES

• Programming schedule subject to change. Follow us on Instagram and check you email for the up to date details.

• This calendar does not include chapter programming.

Check with your chapter for local event schedule.

Kentucky Indiana Ohio Region Email: kio@bbyo.org

Instagram: @kiobbyo

Goes to Scene75 Saturday, November 8, 6:30 – 8:30PM at Scene 75 • 6196 Poe Avenue, Dayton, 45414 Get ready for an epic night at Scene75! Your ticket scores you 2 hours of unlimited attractions and a $10 game card to spend on your favorite games. The fun starts at 6:30PM – so don’t forget to eat dinner first because you’ll want all your energy for laser tag battles, racing go-karts, and hanging out with awesome new friends!

The Junior Youth Group is open to all Jewish youth in 5th through 7th grade. Chaperones will be on hand to ensure your youth are safe and supported.

Tickets are $30 per person. Contact Jennifer Holman at jholman@jfgd.net to RSVP.

PAGE 14

BBYO creates lifelong friendships, with a 101-year history of providing fun and meaningful experiences to Jewish teens in grades 8-12. When your teen joins this amazing organization, they’ll have an opportunity to be a part of a tight-knit group of local friends and a community of teens from across the globe.

If you are interested in joining BBYO, please visit BBYO.org/join

BBYO is looking for advisors 21 years or older.

If you are interested in becoming an advisor, please contact Jennifer Holman at jholman@jfgd.net or 937-401-1550.

At Camp Shalom, we warmly nurture the qualities that create lasting friendships: kindness, empathy, bravery, trust, and communication. Winter Camp Shalom is packed with adventures, from exciting field trips that include swimming pools, museums, and entertainment centers. Every day brings something new: cooking projects, arts and crafts, STEM explorations, and fun indoor sports.

Winter Camp Schedule

December 22-26 December 29 - January 2, 2026 Closed December 25 and January 1

Hours:

Camp day 9AM - 4PM Rise & Shine 8 - 9AM Stay & Play 4 - 5:30PM

Cost:

$200 per 4-day week or $75 a day Rise & Shine $5 per day Stay & Play $7 per day

For more information, please contact Jennifer Holman at jholman@jfgd.net or 937-401-1550.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

October 2025 JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES

’S WRIGHT D Y O L L FRANK E TOUR OF TT HOUS O C T S E W Sunday, November 16, 3:30 – 7PM Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House 85 South Greenmount Ave, Springfield, 45505 Docent-led tour from 3:30 – 5:00PM and then dinner at Casa Centro Modern Mexican (14 E. Main St, Springfield, 45502 ~ cost on your own).

The Westcott House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Prairie style house in Springfield. The house was built in 1908 for Burton J. Westcott, his wife Orpha, and their family. The Westcott property is the only Prairie style house designed by Wright in the state of Ohio. $18/person. RSVP by November 7, 2025.

Register online at jewishdayton/events or contact Stacy Emoff at semoff@jfgd.net or 937-610-5513.

LOOKING FOR A GREAT PRESCHOOL EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR CHILD? The Jewish Community Center Preschool may be the place for you.

Community Religious School Sunday, November 16, 9:15AM – 12:15PM Temple Israel • 130 Riverside Drive, Dayton, 45405 Join our community for a morning of Jewish education for children in preschool through eighth grade as we explore Israeli culture. Students will choose sessions that explore a variety of personal connections to the land and people of Israel. A kosher snack will be provided.

Program of PJ Library and PJ Our Way, in partnership with Beth Abraham Synagogue, Hillel Academy, Temple Beth Or, and Temple Israel.

Our school provides: • An eclectic curriculum that meets and exceeds The Ohio Learning and Developmental Standards.

• A warm and nurturing environment with low student/teacher ratios.

• Trained teachers that surpass required OCCRRA training hours.

• We are part of the SHEVA Learning Community, which is based on the Reggio Emilia Philosophy.

• Specialty instruction including movement, music, and art.

• Transportation to and from PVS & PVN for kindergarteners.

JCC Preschool enrollment is now open.

RSVP through your synagogue religious school or by email to Kate Elder at kelder@jfgd.net for families not currently enrolled in religious school.

Please reach out to our director, Katie Lagasse, with questions or to schedule a tour at klagasse@jfgd.net or 937-610-1794.

Limited spaces are available in various classrooms.

JCC Preschool THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

PAGE 15

October 2025 JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES

Legacies, Tributes, & Memorials JFS

FEDERATION

DAYTON JEWISH CHORALE FUND In honor of Cantor Andrea Raizen’s special birthday Judy and Alan Chesen Carol Kozak Ward and Seth Ward Barbara Raizen Elaine McDonald Linda and Allan Katz JOE BETTMAN MEMORIAL TZADIK AWARD In honor of Burt and Alice Saidel receiving the Joe and Elaine Bettman Tzadik Award Jean and Todd Bettman JCC

JANE HOCHSTEIN JCC PROGRAMMING FUND In recognition of Felix Garfunkel, Helen Markman, and Judy Chesen for their upstanding service to our Jewish community Paula Gessiness and Jay Holland

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES In honor of Debbie Mattis’ special birthday In honor of Irvin Moscowitz’s special birthday Jeff Kantor In honor of Alice and Burt Saidel receiving the Joe and Elaine Bettman Tzadik Award In honor of the special birthdays of Alice Saidel, Carol Graff, Felix Garfunkel, Larry Glicker, and Marcia Cox Susan and Joe Gruenberg In appreciation of Tara Feiner’s many years of dedicated service Eva Clair and Ira Segalewitz

Did you know you can honor a friend or family member through a Legacy, Tribute or Memorial?

A donation to one of the Jewish Foundation's many endowment funds benefits our Jewish community while honoring a loved one. For more information, please contact Janese R. Sweeny, Esq. CFRE, at 937-401-1542.

Let's do a KNITZVAH Calling all our crafty community members…Let’s do a KNITZVAH! Monday, November 3 to Wednesday, November 26, JFS will welcome your hand-knitted, crocheted, or sewn donations of hats, scarves, lap blankets, socks, or gloves to help make our Chanukah outreach extra special (and fuzzy).

For questions or to schedule a drop-off, please contact Jacquelyn Archie, JFS administrative assistant, at jarchie@jfgd.net or 937-610-1555.

PAGE 16

ANNUAL MEDICARE ENROLLMENT PERIOD October 15 December 7

Learn ways to: Stay Informed. Stay Healthy. Save Money.

Find out how the October 15 - December 7 Medicare Annual Coordinated Election Period can work for you. Get tips on how to enroll for 2026 coverage in a Medicare prescription drug plan (Part D) and/or a Medicare Advantage Plan.

Medicare and OSHIIP, the Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program, are offering three free Medicare Check Up days in Montgomery County to help with plan review and selection. Medicare counselors from the Ohio Department of Insurance will be on hand to sit down with you individually. By appointment only. Please call the desired location to schedule your appointment.

Please bring your medication list, Medicare card, and current plan information to your appointment. OSHIIP Medicare Counselor and JFS volunteer Connie Blum will also be counseling and helping with 2026 plan selection; she can be reached at 937-503-1979.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21 9 AM - 2 PM at Huber Heights Senior Center 7301 Shull Road, 45424 For an appointment, call 937-233-9999.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7 9AM - 2PM at Earl Heck Community Center 201 N. Main St., Englewood, 45322 For an appointment, call 937-836-5929 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 9AM - 1PM at The Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville, 45459 For an appointment, call 937-610-1555.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

CALENDAR Classes

Beth Jacob Classes: w. Rabbi Agar on Zoom. Call to register for classes, 937-274-2149.

Tuesdays, 7 p.m.: Torah Tuesdays. Thursdays, 7 p.m.: Thursdays of Thought. Tuesdays, Oct. 21-Dec. 9, 10:30 a.m.: Hebrew Reading Crash Course w. Chaya Vidal in person. 7020 N. Main St., Harrison Twp. Chabad Classes: Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.: Talmud Class in person & Zoom. Call for Zoom link & location. Fridays, 9:30 a.m.: Women’s Class. Call for location. Mondays, Oct. 27-Dec. 1, 7 p.m.: JLI-The Kabbalah of Meaning, in person & Zoom. $72. Register at chabaddayton. com/calendar. 2001 Far Hills Ave, Oakwood. 937-643-0770.

Temple Beth Or Classes: Sat., Oct. 11, 25, 10 a.m.: Apocryphal Study in person & Zoom. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 937435-3400.

Temple Israel Classes: Saturdays, 9:15 a.m.: Virtual Torah Study on Zoom. For Torah Study Zoom info. email Fran Rickenbach, franwr@gmail.com. Wed., Oct. 8, 15, 22, 29, 10 a.m.: Weekly Torah Commentary w.

Rabbi Bodney-Halasz in person & Zoom. For Zoom info. email info@tidayton.org. Fri., Oct. 10, 11 a.m.: Living w. Loss. Thurs., Oct. 16, 3:30 p.m.: Living w.

Ambiguous Loss. Tues., Oct. 21, 28, noon: Talmud Study in person & Zoom. Tues., Oct. 21, 28, Nov. 4, 18, 3 p.m.: Rabbi Emeritus David Sofian Fall Lecture Series. Call office to RSVP. tidayton.org/calendar. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. RSVP to 937-496-0050.

Family

PJ Library Down on the Farm:

Sun., Oct. 5, 5:30 p.m. Free.

For info., contact Kate Elder, kelder@jfgd.net. RSVP by Oct. 3 at jewishdayton.org/events.

Candlebrook Farms, 3269 Ferry Rd., Bellbrook.

Beth Abraham Rhythm ‘N’ Ruach: Fri., Oct. 10, 5:30-6:15 p.m. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. 937-293-9520.

Temple Israel’s Universe to You: Kids Planetarium Adventure: Sun., Oct. 19, 4 p.m. Free.

RSVP to 937-496-0050. tidayton. org/calendar. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton.

Young Adults

Chabad Young Professionals Shabbat Dinner in the Sukkah: Fri., Oct. 10, 6:30 p.m. $18.

RSVP at chabaddayton.com/ calendar. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-643-0770.

Adults

Temple Israel’s Ryterband Lecture Series: Sundays, 9:45 a.m. $7. Oct. 12: Rabbi Emeritus David Sofian, Antisemitism & the Gaza War. Oct. 26: Jason Kalman, One Book at a Time: Building the Hebrew Union College Library. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 937-496-0050.

Israel in Focus Documentary Series: Thurs., Oct 16, 6:30 p.m. Free. Presented by JCRC. Viewing Torn. RSVP by Oct. 10 at jewishdayton.org/events. For info., contact Jeff Blumer, jblumer@jfgd.net. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville.

937-610-1555.

JCC CABS Opening: Sun., Oct. 19, 2 p.m. $10. Author Jane Eisner, Carole King: She Made the Earth Move. RSVP at jewishdayton.org/events. Roger Glass Center for the Arts, 29 Creative

Way, Dayton.

Temple Israel Sacred Stitching: Tues., Oct. 28, 11 a.m.

Make items for donation w.

JCRC’s Upstander initiative.

For info., email Alexandria King, garyuzzking@hotmail.com. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 937-4960050.

Women

Chabad Ladies Night in the Sukkah: Thurs., Oct. 9, 6 p.m. $36. RSVP at chabaddayton. com/calendar. Call for location, 937-643-0770.

Chabad Women’s Shabbat Dinner: Fri., Oct. 31, 6 p.m. $36. RSVP at chabaddayton. com/calendar. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-643-0770.

Men

Chabad Men’s Night in the Sukkah: Thurs., Oct. 9, 6:15 p.m. $64. RSVP at chabaddayton.com/calendar. 2001 Far Hills Ave, Oakwood. 937-643-0770.

breakfast. Cards for IDF soldiers.

RSVP by Oct. 9. For info., call Tammy Evans, 937-274-2149.

7020 N. Main St., Harrison Twp. Chabad Community Sukkot Dinner & Party: Sun., Oct. 12, 5 p.m. Adults $20, kids 5-12 $7.50. RSVP at chabaddayton. com/calendar. 2001 Far Hills Ave, Oakwood. 937-643-0770, ext. 3.

Temple Israel Simchat Torah: Mon., Oct. 13, 6 p.m. Followed by 7 p.m. dinner. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. Register for dinner at tidayton.org/calendar.

Beth Abraham Simchat Torah: Tues., Oct. 14. 5:30 p.m.: Pasta dinner & ice cream sundaes.

6:15 p.m.: Dancing & singing w.

Torahs. Free. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. RSVP for dinner to 937-293-9520.

Beth Jacob Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah BBQ: Tues., Oct. 14, 6 p.m. Free. RSVP by Oct. 9, 937-274-2149. 7020 N. Main St., Harrison Twp. Chabad Simchat Torah Celebration: Tues., Oct. 14, 7 p.m. Free. 2001 Far Hills Ave, Oakwood. chabaddayton.com/ calendar. 937-643-0770.

Community

Hadassah Presents the MeshugaNotes: Sun., Oct. 5, 2 p.m. $20. Register by Sept. 20 at events.hadassah.org/ DaytonNotes. Venue provided upon registration.

Jewish Dayton Volunteers at Dayton Foodbank: Mon., Oct. 20, 1-3 p.m. Ages 16 & up. Register by Oct. 16 w. Jeff Blumer, jblumer@jfgd.net. 56 Armor Pl., Dayton.

Sukkot/Simchat Torah

Beth Abraham Sukkah Decorating & Pizza in the Hut: Sun., Oct. 5, 11:30 a.m. Free. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood.

937-293-9520.

Temple Israel Pizza in the Hut: Mon., Oct. 6, 5:45 p.m. $8 adults, $5 kids 4-12. Register at tidayton.org/calendar. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 937-496-0050.

Temple Anshe Emeth Sukkot: Fri., Oct. 10, 7 p.m. Carry-in dinner. For more information, email ansheemeth.org.

Beth Jacob Holiday Cards in the Sukkah: Sun., Oct. 12, 9 a.m. Free. Morning service, 9 a.m. followed by pancake

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PAGE 17

JEWISH FAMILY EDUCATION

The call to human responsibility In the news — a new series

“Two leaders, three opinions” humorously recalls the Jewish saying, “Two Jews, three opinions.”

And there are certainly Jewish leaders in the news these days who represent strikingly different opinions.

Candace R. Kwiatek On campus, Zionist, Jewish Voice for Peace, and anti-Zionist Jewish students endorse radically different visions of Zionism.

Author and journalist Peter Beinart and Rabbi David Wolpe similarly hold opposing views on Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jewish leaders across the religious and cultural spectrum offer very different ideas about balancing communal continuity with inclusion and diversity. Proponents, skeptics, and traditionalist leaders are in current debate about the role of AI in halachic (Jewish legal)

decision-making.

In the Jewish worldview, diverse viewpoints and robust debate in religious and cultural life are to be encouraged, even celebrated.

Considered the cornerstone of intellectual life, they introduce different perspectives which challenge and clarify one’s own views, all in the pursuit of truth.

Disagreement, challenge, and argument among leaders is plentiful in the Bible and even more evident in the Talmud, and it continues throughout Jewish history.

In the time of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Rabbi Ben Zakkai debated with the Zealots over the best approach: surrender versus militancy, a debate that continues even today among world Jewry.

Rabbi Barry Schwartz describes a 19th-century debate among rabbis Zacharias Frankel, Abraham Geiger, and Samson Raphael Hirsch over evolution in religion, echoed in the current debate on the place of Israel in American Judaism.

Since making meaningful decisions or taking a strong

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stance on an issue will almost inevitably provoke opposition or disagreement, most great leaders generate controversy.

From King David to the Baal Shem Tov and Milton Friedman, from Queen Salome Alexandra of Judea to Golda Meir and Ayn Rand, not one promoted ideas that were universally accepted.

But the same is true in our individual lives as well.

Judaism’s tradition of wisdom Esther confronts Haman by Gustave offers the same guidance to Doré 1866 leaders and ordinary individuals alike: Looking for a “win” leaders serve the people and is considered rebellion, but God, not themselves. when spirited engagement The two styles couldn’t be involves participants who truly more different, one represented listen and are open to others’ by the pyramid, the other by ideas and even to being wrong, the biblical menorah — essenargument is “for the sake of tially an inverted pyramid. heaven.”

In Judaism, “(t)he greatest Handling controversy well, leader is therefore the most however, isn’t the only definhumble,” Sacks points out, noting feature of a great leader. ing that “C.S. Lewis rightly deUnsurprisingly, there is fined humility not as thinking significant agreement among less of yourself but as thinking books and articles, blog posts, of yourself less.”

AI search summaries, and JewAncient Israel’s leaders who ish commentaries about other chose authoritarian control defining qualities of great lead- over servant leadership ineviers such as integrity, empathy, tably caused chaos, as in the and courage. story of King Rehoboam.

At the same time Judaism After succeeding his father offers three unique, biblically Solomon, Rehoboam ruled like inspired perspectives on leada tyrant, causing the 10 northership, highlighted by Rabbi ern tribes to rebel and form Jonathan Sacks in his book their own kingdom under King Lessons in Leadership, that have Jeroboam, splitting King Dathe potential to improve leadvid’s United Monarchy in two ers’ skills and outcomes and to and ultimately leading to the offer another way of evaluating exile of the Jewish people. leadership candidates.

Leadership is owning the Leadership is service, not responsibility to act. Judaism is authority. Instead of adopta call to leadership every day, ing the top-down leadership to take responsibility for seeing style of the hierarchical ancient what needs fixing — within world, Sacks explains, Judaism oneself, the home, or the comintroduced a model where its munity — and making sure it

Literature to share One in Six Million by Amy Fish. In 1942, an 8-month-old baby was discovered in a ditch near Krosno, Poland. The Polish couple that rescued her knew only her name and birthdate, Maria, November 1941, from the note pinned to her blanket. The couple took her home and raised her, but Maria always wondered about her Jewish identity. Then she came to the attention of the late genealogist Stanley Diamond.

Although it reads like a masterfully-plotted detective novel, One in Six Million is a true story about an identity lost — and eventually found.

Perfect Match: The Story of Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton

by Lori Dubbin. Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton just wanted to play tennis. But in the 1950s, Althea couldn’t join the American tennis leagues because she was Black. Angela had a similar experience in the United Kingdom, unable to join the best tennis clubs because she was Jewish. And they were both shunned by other players. But prejudice and discrimination didn't stop them. Written for elementary ages, this biography is an inspirational tale about handling negativity and setbacks while pursuing one’s dreams.

gets done.

Great leadership calls for vision-driven action. Joseph’s vision for saving Egypt from famine. Jethro’s vision on how to create a better legal system.

Esther’s vision of a way to save her people. Moses’ burning bush-inspired vision of the road, both physical and spiritual, from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Such vision is apparent in the tireless efforts of Theodor Herzl to secure a liberal, secular Jewish state, a homeland for the Jews plagued by antisemitism throughout the many lands in which the Jews were scattered.

In the Jewish view, everyone — of any age on any day — can be a leader and improve the world.

The highest form of leadership is teaching. In Ethics of the Fathers, one finds the phrase lilmod u’lelamed, to learn and to teach, which Rabbi Ishmael suggests is a call to “learn in order to teach.”

A relevant study by psychiatrist William Glasser reveals that while people learn only 10% of what they read and 50% of what they see and hear, they learn 95% of what they teach to others.

The obligation to teach compels a leader to be constantly learning, exploring, evaluating, adapting, and envisioning, giving direction and depth to one’s leadership.

Meanwhile, the leader’s “audience members,” empowered by what they’ve learned, are inspired to act, and these original learners in turn become leaders and teachers in their own right.

Teaching is the highest form of leadership because it empowers and inspires others.

At many points in our lives, each of us will be called upon to be a leader, or a leadership opportunity will fall into our lap.

Will you reply, “Oh, I’m not leadership material”? How much more broken would our world be if Rabbi Akiva, Henrietta Szold, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Albert Einstein, or the midwives Shifra and Puah in the Book of Exodus had responded in like manner?

“The story of humanity has been, for the most part, a flight from responsibility,” Sacks concludes. “To be human is to seek to escape from responsibility. That is what makes Judaism different...For Judaism is God’s call to human responsibility.”

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

MAZEL TOV! The Ohio Department of Aging inducted retired social worker and current Dayton Jewish Family Services volunteer Connie Blum into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in Columbus, Sept. 10 for her decades of service in the region. Blum is among 10 older Ohioans inducted to the Hall of Fame this year for lifelong contributions to their communities, professions, and vocations. Connie Blum They join more than 500 who have been inducted to the Hall of Fame since 1977.

Connie retired about 30 years ago from her career as a social worker with the JCC and JFS and became a volunteer Certified Medicare Counselor through the Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program (OSHIIP). She's been volunteering in this capacity for 28 years, helping more than 100 Medicare beneficiaries a year navigate the challenges of understanding Medicare.

In 1978, Blum established a daily lunch

program for older adults, as well as numerous social, educational, and recreational activities in her position of director of programs and services for seniors at the Dayton JCC. Last year, Connie was honored by the National Senior Health Insurance Information Program at the U.S. Administration for Community Living Office of Healthcare Information and Counseling national conference. In 2024, she was also named Outstanding SHIP Volunteer. "Whether it’s short phone calls or investing hours over weeks to assist others, Connie’s support during her work with the Ohio OSHIIP knows no bounds," ODA's announcement of Connie's honor noted. And Connie continues on: During Medicare's annual open enrollment period, Oct. 5 through Dec. 7, she'll give talks and presentations on Medicare updates to a variety of retiree groups while also counseling numerous individuals.

Peter Benkendorf, founder of The Collaboratory, says the Miami Valley Medical Debt Relief Campaign is at nearly 85% of its $125,250 goal. A project of The Collaboratory, its aim is to eliminate more than $22.75 million in medical debt facing more than 13,000 people in the Miami Valley who earn less than four times the federal poverty level or whose debt is more than 5% of their income. "For every $100 given, we can retire $17,000 in medical debt," he says. Dayton's Jewish Family Services is a collaborator on the campaign. " We have separated the counties to encourage even more localized support to go along with our overall sevencounty effort," Peter says of the campaign's strategy.

"The biggest support has come from Greene County, Peter Benkendorf where a campaign led by the Greene County Democratic Party exceeded its goal by slightly more than $3,000, and Clark County.

Their debt of $62,000 accounted for almost 50% of the total goal, as community leaders, foundations, and some very generous individual philanthropists stepped up big-time."

Through Nov. 2, works from the 2025 Max May and Lydia May Memorial Holocaust Art and Writing Contest are on view at The Dayton Art Institute.

Named in memory of the grandparent of Renate Frydman, director of the Dayton Holocaust Resource Center, the annual competition invites students in grades five through 12 across the Miami Valley to reflect on the history and lessons of the Holocaust through art and writing. This year's theme was Eighty years after the Holocaust, the Second Generation shares the history of their families. Never Again, Never Forget.

Antioch College in Yellow Springs will dedicate an Ohio Historical Marker on campus Oct. 2 in honor of Class of 1950 alumnus Rod Serling, who created and hosted televisions' The Twilight Zone. The date marks the premiere of the iconic anthology series in Rod Serling

1959. That evening, the Yellow Springs Film Festival will present a tribute to Serling at its opening ceremony. Guests will include Serling's daughter, Anne Serling. The program will include a live performance of one of Serling's radio plays, and a screening and discussion of a classic Twilight Zone episode.

After his army service in World War II, Serling, who hailed from upstate New York, attended Antioch College.

There, he met his wife, Carol Kramer, and became involved with the campus radio station.

As part of Antioch's workstudy program, he worked at WNYC radio station in New York. His writing career began in 1950 as a continuity writer for WLW radio in Cincinnati; Serling then made the jump to television, writing for Cincinnati's WKRC-TV. He died in 1975.

Send your Mazel Tov announcements to mweiss@jfgd.net.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

TEMPLE ISRAEL’S

holiday schedule

KOL NIDRE

Wednesday, October 1 8:00 p.m. Congregational Services

YOM KIPPUR

Thursday, October 2 9:00 a.m. Family Services 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Congregational Services 1:30 p.m. Yom Kippur Educational Session with Jennifer Holman 6:15 p.m. Gerald A. Greene Memorial Break-the-Fast

SUKKOT

Monday, October 6 5:45 p.m. Pizza in the Hut 6:30 p.m. Congregational Services

SIMCHAT TORAH Monday, October 13

6:00 p.m. Services and Consecration 7:00 p.m. Potluck Dinner

5786 Temple Israel • 130 Riverside Drive, Dayton www.tidayton.org • 937.496.0050 PAGE 19

October

Tishri/Cheshvan Candle Lightings Erev Yom Kippur, Oct. 1: 7:01 p.m.

Shabbat, Oct. 3: 6:57 p.m.

Erev Sukkot, Oct. 6: 6:53 p.m.

First Eve Sukkot, Oct. 7: 7:49 p.m.

Shabbat, Oct. 10: 6:46 p.m.

Erev Shemini Atzeret, Oct. 13 6:42 p.m.

Erev Simchat Torah, Oct. 14 7:38 p.m.

Shabbat, Oct. 17: 6:36 p.m.

Shabbat, Oct. 24: 6:26 p.m.

Shabbat, Oct. 31: 6:17 p.m.

Torah Portions Oct. 4: Haazinu (Deut. 32:1-52) Oct. 18: Bereshit (Gen. 1:1-6:8) Oct. 25: Noach (Gen. 6:9-11:32)

Yom Kippur

Day of Atonement

Oct. 2/10 Tishri The holiest day on the Jewish calendar, marking the end of the Days of Awe, spent fasting and in prayer.

The sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn, signals the end of the holiday.

Sukkot

Festival of Booths

Oct. 7-13/15-21 Tishri Named after the huts the Israelites lived in while wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.

Marked by building sukkot to eat meals in during the festival, and in the synagogue by processions with the lulav (palm branches with myrtle and willow) and etrog (citron fruit).

Shemini Atzeret

Eighth Day of Assembly

Oct. 14/22 Tishri Historically, it allowed an extra day in Jerusalem for Jewish pilgrims on their journey to the Temple.

Tefillat Geshem (the prayer for rain), Hallel (Psalms of thanksgiving and joy), and Yizkor (memorial prayers) are recited.

Simchat Torah

Rejoicing of the Torah

Oct. 15/23 Tishri Annual cycle of reading the Torah is concluded and a new cycle begun. Celebrated in the synagogue with singing, dancing, and Torah processionals.

PAGE 20

RELIGION

WORSHIP SERVICES

The gifts of Sacred Stitching

Temple Israel

By Rabbi Tina Sobo Temple Israel I used to watch in awe as some crafters stitched away while seamlessly participating in conversations, classes, or other gatherings.

Even as a self-proclaimed multitasker, somehow those seemed incompatible with the amount of cognitive effort needed for each individually.

And yet, I regularly wear a particular kipah handmade in our first year at Hebrew Union College by a now wellacclaimed curriculum writer (shout out to A recent crop of hats for NICU babies knitted by Sacred Stitching volunteers.

Rae Antonoff). She The mission was simple: Stitch- with donuts! crocheted the intricate design I anticipated that it would ing (crochet, knit, or otherwise) during the very classes needed help reframe the negative to write her fabulous curricula. helps some participate more stereotypes of being neurodeeply in communal spaces That kipah is proof it can be divergent with an ability to and we could turn that need done. fulfill a mitzvah in the course of into a mitzvah.

As I learned more about day-to-day activities, The group has neurodiversity and cognitive embracing the need to made winter gear for profiles, I came to understand multitask instead of those facing housing trying to suppress it. insecurity, little hats I anticipated that for newborns and it would bring folks NICU patients, and that for some, the easiest way together and build to focus is to have a distraction. in October, we are new connections as adding, for slightly Neuropsychology has we shared tips, tricks, more intermeditaught that for some brains, materials, patterns, attention will almost inevitably ate crafters, Knitted and positivity.

Knockers. be divided between the task at Rabbi Tina Sobo But I’m not writYes, it is what hand and something else. ing this to pat myself on the it sounds like. Knitted (or For these brains, instead of back, because one of the best crocheted) Knockers are breast fighting the impulse of distracoutcomes is one that I didn’t prosthetics, primarily for those tions, channeling that excess expect or plan on. facing breast cancer, but also brain energy into something Multiple teens reached out used by transgender individu— a fidget, or in this case, a to me. With high school, they als for chest feminization. crochet project — allows the can’t come to our biweekly They address many issues main part of your focus to like the cost, com- gatherings, but asked if they stay attuned to could get some yarn to work on fort, and durabilthe “real” task at Teens were a project on their own, or share ity of traditional hand more than confident and the patterns, or show them a breast prostheses. attempting to new technique, or just to show If you are keep from fidget- proud showing off what they were working on. interested in the ing. me their work When considering the rabpatterns or have Far from a sign and sharing their donations of com- binate, never did I consider of disrespect or pleted projects for that I’d be helping teens learn inattention, such ideas of what a “grandma hobby” in the any of these, any crafting endeav- to make next. halls between religious school in our commuors allow a subset classes and giving free access nity are welcome of folks to pay to a large tote of available yarns to participate and/or drop off better attention while putand supplies. completed donations when ting that extra, often anxious Far from being embarrassed the office is open. Just give us energy to a productive result by a first attempt at a proja call. instead of endlessly (and anect, teens were confident and I anticipated that our binoyingly) clicking or deconproud showing me their work weekly gatherings would be a structing their pens. and sharing their ideas of what compelling excuse for parAbout a year ago, led by to make next.

Alexandria King, Sacred Stitch- ticipants to do something they Continued on Page 21 love, in good company, and ing was born at Temple Israel.

Perspectives

Beth Abraham Synagogue Conservative Rabbi Aubrey L. Glazer Fridays, 5 p.m.

Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.

305 Sugar Camp Circle, Oakwood. 937-293-9520. bethabrahamdayton.org

Beth Boruk Temple

Reform 2810 Southeast Pkwy., Richmond, Ind. bethboruk@yahoo.com.

Friday night Shabbat service monthly, September through May. For schedule, go to bethboruktemple.com.

Beth Jacob Congregation

Modern Orthodox Rabbi Leibel Agar Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. Evening minyans upon request.

7020 N. Main St., Dayton.

937-274-2149. bethjacobcong.org

Chabad of Greater Dayton

Rabbi Nochum Mangel Associate Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin Youth & Prog. Dir. Rabbi Levi Simon. Beginner educational service Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. 2001 Far Hills Ave. 937-643-0770. chabaddayton.com

Temple Anshe Emeth

Reform Worship led by Jese Shell 320 Caldwell St., Piqua.

Contact Steve Shuchat, 937-7262116, ansheemeth@gmail.com. ansheemeth.org

Temple Beth Or

Reform Rabbi Judy Chessin Fridays, 6:15 p.m.

5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 937-435-3400. templebethor.com

Temple Beth Sholom

Reform Rabbi Haviva Horvitz 610 Gladys Dr., Middletown.

513-422-8313. templebethsholom.net

Temple Israel

Reform Senior Rabbi Karen BodneyHalasz. Rabbi/Educator Tina Sobo Fri., Oct. 3, 6 p.m. Fridays, Oct. 10, 17, 24, 31, 6:30 p.m.

130 Riverside Dr., Dayton.

937-496-0050. tidayton.org

Temple Sholom

Reform Rabbi Cary Kozberg Fridays, 6 p.m.

2424 N. Limestone St., Springfield. 937-399-1231. templesholomoh.com

Yellow Springs Havurah

Independent Antioch College Rockford Chapel.

1st & 3rd Saturday each month.

Contact Len Kramer, 937-5724840 or len2654@gmail.com.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

RELIGION Continued from Page 20 Sacred Stitching helped foster an environment for that to happen, and has perhaps been one of the best outcomes of this endeavor possible.

Teens who enjoy digging through a bin of yarn for what feels or looks nice might not seem like a big deal, but it is.

These creative leisure activities, including things like scrapbooking, baking, book clubs, gardening — far from “cool” when I was in high school — come with significant benefits to overall wellbeing for teens, especially in areas of mental wellness.

This impact has been documented recently in research psychology.

As I see more high schools and organizations that serve teens and young adults offer physical space and support for such creative outlets, and popular influencers promoting their own hobbies, I hope the trend of the younger generation feeling empowered to create for the sake of creation continues.

And I hope that we all can learn a bit from our teens about being open to trying new things, knowing they won’t be perfect the first time, finding new hobbies or activities, and with them, build stronger connections to one another — and maybe even being able to give a little back to those in need in the process.

B"H

Introduction to Judaism course 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. 4 and running through Feb. 24.

The annual class is open to anyone interested in Jewish learning, dialogue, and exploration. Some sessions are held at local synagogues and temples, some via Zoom; all sessions are available online. It offers an in-depth look at Judaism from Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform perspectives.

Instructors are Beth Abraham Synagogue's Rabbi Aubrey Glazer, Beth Jacob Congregation's Rabbi Leibel Agar, Temple Beth Or's Rabbi Judy Chessin, and Temple Israel's Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz.

Topics include God and theology, theodicy (the problem of evil in the world), sacred texts, peoplehood, Zionism, Jewish history, personal observance, life cycles, Shabbat, community, holidays, prayer and liturgy, antisemitism, and the Holocaust.

Registration is $36 for an individual or couple. For more information or to enroll, email Chessin at rabbichessin@ templebethor.com.

S UKKOT P RAY E RS

r7 Tuesday, Octobe ber 8 to Oc , Wednesday 9:30am Morning Prayer 10:30am m Children’s Progra

r 14 Tuesday, Octobe 9:30am Morning Prayer 10:30am Yizkor 7:15pm t Dinner & Hakafo tober 15 Wednesday, Oc 9:30am Morning Prayer

Y DINNER & PART IN THE SUKKAH

r 12 | 5:00pm the Sukkah!

Sunday, Octobe ups and salads in so of ty rie va a g featurin Enjoy a full dinner ren’s program. ild Special CKids ch

UT MEN’S NIGHT O IN THE SUKKAH

| 6:15pm r9 Thursday, Octobe n. Steak dinner d Scotch & Bourbo an rs ga Ci k, ea St of ayims from a Enjoy an evening of fine cigars, lech n io ct le se , gs in the Sukkah. with all the trimm shelf spirits, all in pto of n io ct le se wright.edu/explore

CYP SUKKAH SOCIAL

Saturday, October 18, 2025 9 a.m.—1 p.m.

Explore Wright State Day is a chance to experience Wright State YOUR way. See for yourself why it's a great time to be a Raider!

• Tour campus

• Talk to financial aid

• Meet students

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• Explore housing

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TORAH

pm tober 14 | 7:15 Tuesday night, Oc nner joy a full buffet di y Lechayim and en sa h, in ra To ay e aw th t gh ith e the ni Dance w u). Sing and danc en m y dl . en ue fri en d Av ki r Hills (including oor dancing on Fa td Ou h. ra To t e fo th ka ’ Ha celebration of ly Torahs - Rockin Funky Flags - Ho r Dayton Chabad of Greate | 937 643 0770 abadDayton.com Ch w. ww | 9 41 45 e. Oakwood, OH 2001 Far Hills Av

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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

| 6:30pm 10 Friday, October dinner in the ls for a Holiday na sio es of pr ish .

Join young Jew chabaddayton.com fo email chabad@ in e or m r Fo . ah Sukk SIMCHAT

PAGE 21

Sweet North African rolls perfect for Yom Kippur break fast Sukkah Decorating & Pizza in the Hut Sunday, Oct. 5, 11:30 a.m.

Children & all young at heart are welcome to make and hang decorations to beautify our sukkah. Kosher pizza’s on us!

Simchat Torah Tues., Oct. 14

RSVP for our free dinner 5:30 p.m. Pasta Dinner & Ice Cream Sundaes.

6:15 p.m. Dancing & Singing with the Torahs.

Our House Band will provide the music!

305 Sugar Camp Circle • Dayton, Ohio 45409 937•293•9520 • www.bethabrahamdayton.org BAS@bethabrahamdayton.org PAGE 22

By Vered Guttman, The Nosher Tunisian, Libyan and Algerian Jews break the Yom Kippur fast with bollo (or bolo or boulou, depending on their origin). This lightly sweetened small roll or cookie is dotted with raisins, fennel seed, sesame seeds, and sometimes nuts and nigella seeds.

Bollo means bun in Spanish and Ladino, and indeed Sephardi communities around the world have dishes similar to this version from North Africa.

I highly recommend using Saf Instant Yeast; it’s available online and can keep for months in the freezer. When using instant yeast, you should skip the process of proofing the yeast; if you’re using active dry yeast, start the recipe by proofing the yeast and continue as usual.

The rolls will keep at room temperature in a cloth or paper bag for up to three days. They can be frozen, thawed at room temperature and eaten once thawed or covered with aluminum foil and reheated in a 325-degree oven for 10 minutes.

You can swap out the nuts and dried fruit according to your taste.

For the rolls 1 lb. all-purpose flour 4 tsp. yeast (see note) ⅔ cup sugar 2 eggs, at room temperature ¾ cup warm water ¼ cup corn, avocado or mild olive oil 1 tsp. vanilla extract ½ tsp. salt ½ cup golden raisins, soaked in warm water and strained ½ cup chopped walnuts ¼ cup chopped or sliced almonds 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds 1 ½ tsp. fennel seeds zest of one orange For the topping 1 egg yolk 1 Tbsp. water 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds 1 Tbsp. sanding sugar or regular sugar If you’re using instant yeast, make the dough using a stand mixer with the dough hook. Put flour and yeast in the mixer’s bowl and mix with a fork. Add sugar, then turn mixer on medium-low speed and mix for one minute. Add eggs and water and continue to mix for

about two minutes, until well incorporated. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the flour from the sides using a spatula and continue to mix. With mixer on medium-low, add oil, then the rest of the ingredients (including raisins, nuts, and spices). Knead for eight minutes, stopping the mixer to scrape the sides as needed. The dough will be very soft, but don’t be tempted to add more flour.

If you’re using active dry yeast, you need to proof it first: Put ¼-cup water, yeast, and one teaspoon sugar in a glass and stir briefly. Let the mixture sit for five to 10 minutes until it visibly foams.

Put flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Make a well in the center and add yeast mixture, ½-cup water, the rest of the sugar and eggs to the well. Mix for about three minutes on medium-low speed, until well incorporated. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the flour from the sides using a spatula and continue to mix. Add oil, then the rest of the ingredients (including raisins, nuts, and spices). Turn speed to medium-low and mix for eight minutes, stopping the mixer to scrape the sides as needed. The dough will be very soft, but don’t be tempted to add more flour.

Remove bowl from stand mixer.

Using a spatula, transfer dough into a lightly greased large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature, preferably in a warm space (near the oven, for example), until dough doubles its volume, about 60-90 minutes.

Deflate the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise again for an hour, until it doubles in volume.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Transfer dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll into a thick log.

Use a dough cutter to cut into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a roll, then shape into an oval and put on the baking sheet. Keep 2 inches of space between each roll, as they rise in the oven.

Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and let rolls rise for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350.

Mix egg yolk and water and gently brush rolls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sugar. Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until rolls are baked through and golden. Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

Honey Pomegranate Mandelbrot for Sukkot

By Leah Koenig, The Nosher Long before pomegranates became known as a healthy superfood — linked to everything from improving cardiovascular health and reducing cholesterol to preventing cancer — they were a mainstay of Jewish cuisine.

Named in Deut. 8:8 as one of the seven agricultural species cultivated in ancient Israel (with wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olives, and dates) and mythologized to contain 613 seeds in every fruit (to correspond with the number of mitzvot/ commandments given to the Israelites by God), pomegranates are one of Jewish tradition’s most well-known, celebrated foods.

Pomegranates’ peak season falls somewhere in the autumn around the High Holidays, which makes them the perfect accompaniment for the harvest holiday of Sukkot.

Some families hang the red orbs in their sukkahs as decoration. Others incorporate their juicy red seeds into both sweet and savory dishes — everything from pomegranate-glazed chicken to salads speckled with lush, bright red seeds.

In that spirit, this mandelbrot recipe drizzles the traditional Ashkenazi almond cookies (the name translates from Yiddish to almond bread) with a bright pink pomegranate glaze.

The sweet-tart glaze adds color and personality to the light and crispy mandelbrot and helps an otherwise humble cookie stand out on the dessert table.

A generous pour of sweet, golden honey folded into the batter also adds to these cookies’ appeal, and makes them a lovely plus-one to any spread in the Sukkah.

Note: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or in the fridge or freezer for longer.

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes Yield: Makes about 2 dozen cookies For the cookies 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping ½ tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. baking soda ¼ tsp. kosher salt ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan butter, softened ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided ¼ cup mild honey 2 large eggs ¾ tsp. vanilla extract ¾ cup roasted, unsalted almonds, chopped For the glaze ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar, plus more if needed 1½ Tbsp. pomegranate juice, plus more if needed Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a stand mixer or using a handheld electric mixer and a large bowl, beat the butter and ¼ cup of the sugar together on medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until pale and creamy, two to three minutes.

Add the honey, eggs, and vanilla and beat to combine.

The mixture might look curdled at this point, but will smooth out when you add the flour.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two stages, beating on low until just combined and a soft dough forms.

Fold in the almonds with a spatula.

Divide the batter into two equal mounds on the baking sheet, leaving at least 2 inches of space in between the

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

mounds. Using lightly floured hands, pat and press the batter into long, flat rectangles (about 9×4 inches and ½-inch thick).

Bake until puffed and deep golden brown, about 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool for about one minute.

Slice both of the rectangles vertically down their middles.

Then, slice them horizontally into 1 inch-wide pieces.

Turn the pieces on their sides and sprinkle evenly with one tablespoon of the remaining sugar. Bake for 10 more minutes, then remove the baking sheet again.

Flip the pieces to the other side and sprinkle with the remaining one tablespoon sugar.

Bake until the cookies are firm, five to 10 minutes more. (Be careful not to overbake them.

They continue to crisp up as they cool.)

Remove from the oven and set the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for five minutes, then transfer the cookies to the racks to cool completely.

Make the glaze: Sift the confectioner’s sugar into a medium bowl. Add the pomegranate juice and stir to form a thick but pourable glaze.

If the glaze is too thick to drizzle, stir in a little more pomegranate juice. (Likewise if it is too runny, stir in a little more sifted confectioner’s sugar.)

Generously drizzle the tops of the cooled cookies with glaze and set cookies back on the racks to allow the glaze to set.

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Sunday, December 7th: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Guinnessrecord holding magician to bring fun to fundraising benefits for Hillel Academy

Arts&Culture An interview with illusionist Joshua Jay

By Marshall Weiss, The Observer He holds the Guinness World Record for the most selected cards found from a shuffled deck in one minute — 21. He fooled Penn and Teller on their magic competition television series, Penn & Teller: Fool Us. He's been named Magician of the Year by the Society of American Magicians.

And he's a nice Jewish boy who was raised in Canton and graduated OSU with a senior thesis that became his first book, The Amazing Book of Cards.

Magician Joshua Jay will perform two benefits for Hillel Academy Jewish day school, Nov. 2.

"It's a big part of what I do," he says.

"I love helping worthy causes achieve their goals."

On the road 300 days a year, Jay responded to The Observer's interview questions via email between shows.

How did you break into professional magic? What was your family's reaction when you became a professional magician?

My father was a dentist, but he loved magic and used it to show patients between procedures. So we did it together for many years. He and my mom have always been so supportive and encouraging. My mom now travels all over the world to watch me perform shows in far-off places.

What can people expect from your performances in Dayton?

Well, everything I perform I create, and often my favorite part of the process is the months and years it takes to develop original magic pieces. So everything I perform onstage you can only see me do. It's a mix of magic and mentalism and close-up sleight of hand.

Who are your favorite magicians, the ones who inspire you the most?

The person who is widely accepted as the greatest living magician is totally unknown to most of the public in the United States. He's from Spain and his

What's the youngest age for kids who will appreciate your show?

I work entirely clean, but it is an adult show. I'd say 12 and above is ideal.

PAGE 24

Did you have mentors?

I grew up in Canton, where there really were no master magicians to teach me. This meant I had to create my own stuff — terrible stuff at first — but I look back fondly on how isolated I was, and how I created magic out of necessity. That was a fun and useful skill to develop early.

Magician Joshua Jay will present two performances as benefits for Hillel Academy, 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2 at the University of Dayton Roger Glass Center for the Arts, 29 Creative Way, Dayton.

Tickets are $33-$78 and are available at daytonhillel.org/events.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

Anything else we should know about you and your magic?

I hope everyone can stay after. I love meeting folks after my shows and thanking them for coming!

'Why is it that Jewish people make up .2% of the world population, yet in our field I would estimate, conservatively, that 30% of noteworthy magicians in history are Jewish?'

Author opens 2025-26 JCC Cultural Arts & Book Series Reviewed by Bernie Bellan Jewish Post & News (Winnipeg) With over 75 million record albums sold and 118 songs that she either wrote or cowrote, Carole King’s prolific, fabulously successful career has been the subject of several books and numerous articles, including her own memoir, published in 2012.

Now, in the just-released Carole King: She Made the Earth Move (Yale University Press), journalist Jane Eisner takes a fresh look at King’s life, including her two most recent marriages to men who were abusive, physically and emotionally.

Eisner worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for 25 years including as a reporter, editor, and executive.

Later, she spent 10 years as editor of The Forward. The book is the latest in the Yale University Press Jewish Lives series. Eisner opens Dayton's JCC Cultural Arts & Book Series, Oct. 19.

King has given very few interviews over the years, and Eisner was not able to speak to her directly.

"I’ve taken on the challenge to write an interpretive biography of a musical icon who is brilliant, accomplished, and complicated," Eisner writes of her approach to her book. "Though I’ve admired her music since Tapestry was released, I wanted to understand it from the inside out. To do that, I studied piano for two years, which enabled me to dissect her musicality and describe what musicians call the ‘Carole King chord.’"

I didn't realize Eisner had no background in music until I finished her biography. A great many parts of the book dissect the songwriting experience in detail. Eisner aims to explain the genius behind King’s best works, and how incredibly varied her style was.

As Eisner explains, King’s musical Jane Eisner, author of Carole King: She Made the Earth Move, opens the JCC Cultural Arts & Book Series, 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 19 at University of Dayton's Roger Glass Center for the Arts, 29 Creative Way, Dayton. In partnership with UD's Society of Professional Journalists chapter, Department of Music, Alumni Chair in the Humanities, and Jewish Federation's Women's Philanthropy.

With performances by UD Department of Music student ensembles and faculty. $10, free with valid student ID. Register at jewishdayton.org/events.

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • OCTOBER 2025

talent was on clear display from a very early age. Her mother, Eugenia (née Cammer) discovered that young Carol (who added an “e” to her name at 17) was gifted musically by age 3. Eugenia taught Carol piano.

In Eisner’s account of King’s childhood, her early years come across as very happy. Her father, Sidney Klein, was a firefighter in Brooklyn, where the family lived. Along with several other Jewish firefighters, Sidney purchased land at Waubeeka Lake in Connecticut. Young Carol loved her summers there, and Eisner suggests that was a factor when, after having achieved fabulous success in her 30s, King threw it all away and went to live in the Idaho wilderness — with two husbands in succession.

King has remained largely silent about what led her to make such a

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Have you ever done any talks or presentations on Jews and magic?

Many! It's an area of study I'm fascinated by for this simple reason: Why is it that Jewish people make up .2% of the world population, yet in our field I would estimate, conservatively, that 30% of noteworthy magicians in history are Jewish? There's an almost "magical" impulse in our field among Jewish people. It's incredible.

The most famous magician in history? Houdini (Jewish). The most famous magicians right now? Copperfield and David Blaine (both Jewish).

The most accomplished mentalist? Max Maven (Jewish). The best coin magician to ever live? David Roth (Jewish). The best magician at the turn of the 20th century? Max Malini (Jewish). The most revered sleight-of-hand magician of my era? Ricky Jay (Jewish).

The list goes on and on and on. I have done many talks exploring why this might be. And I find the topic endlessly fascinating.

Jane Eisner's Carole King biography parses genius of singer-songwriter

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I'm aware that you give talks on 'Tragic Magic' (tricks that have been fatal to magicians, assistants, or spectators).

Have you done illusions that have put you in physical or emotional danger?

Years ago I did a rendition of the Bullet Catch. And I do a needle-swallowing in the same way that Houdini did it years ago. But having done the research on dangerous magic, I can tell you that I have no desire to do that kind of thing when I can avoid it.

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name is Juan Tamariz. He'll be studied for hundreds of years for his contributions to magic and even magic philosophy.

And our craft is small enough that I get the incredible opportunity to go to Spain every summer, to stay at his summer villa, and study with him. We swap tricks and I get advice on whatever I'm working on. It's tremendous.

Jane Eisner

major shift in her life — the move away from Los Angeles' music scene to virtually cut herself (and three of her four children) off from the world.

Eisner uses her reportorial skills to pore through previous accounts of King’s life (including her own memoir), along with firsthand interviews with people who played key roles in her life.

Eisner also refers to King’s younger brother, Richard, who was intellectually disabled and shunted off to live in an institution when he was only 3. Since King rarely referred to him, Eisner speculates she was somewhat traumatized by that. She also examines how much being Jewish meant to King.

Carole King: She Made the Earth Move is not meant to be an exposé of any sort.

Eisner’s years of newspaper experience shine through as she tells a compelling story of genius punctuated by frequent heartbreak.

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PAGE 25

Klein Halevi

Continued on from Page 12 and contempt, but our internal conversation requires humility.

After two years of war, we need to ask ourselves hard questions.

On Gaza’s hunger crisis: The Israeli government didn’t set out to deliberately starve Gaza but to deny Hamas access to the U.N.’s food distribution system. That was a legitimate goal. But when it became clear our counter-system was disastrously inadequate, and that warnings of approaching starvation might this time be true, why didn’t the government change course? Why did it require a world outcry and American pressure to prevent a catastrophe that would have haunted us for years to come?

And why were we, the Israeli public, largely silent?

On civilian casualties: The IDF doesn’t deliberately kill civilians. This war, with its hundreds of kilometers of tunnels and thousands of boobytrapped apartments and total entwinement of civilian and terror infrastructures, has inevitably produced terrible civilian suffering. Still: Has the IDF done everything it could to protect civilians? Has it tolerated a recklessness that would've been unacceptable in the past?

On war crimes: Every war produces deviants. But has this war produced more instances of war crimes than our previous conflicts? And is the army properly investigating?

On Gaza’s ruins: If Gaza resembles Berlin 1945, that is, in part, a consequence of fighting an enemy that wears no uniform and operates from hospitals and schools. Still:

How much of the devastation has been a gratuitous act of vengeance? It is true, as Israelis often note, that the Allies weren’t squeamish in their war against evil? But the Allies had a plan to rehabilitate Germany.

What is this government’s plan for Gaza?

On the continued legitimacy of a just war: The IDF has repeatedly made clear that its goals are saving the hostages, defeating Hamas, and ensuring a new post-war government for Gaza. Those are noble goals.

Yet the government refuses to rule out the far-right vision of a Gaza free of Palestinians. Can this war still be justified if the government doesn’t present a post-war political and economic blueprint for Gaza that's not based on de facto expulsion and permanent Israeli occupation?

On Israeli society: Enraged at the starvation and torture of our hostages, haunted by the scenes of mass celebration in Gaza on Oct. 7, we have allowed our moral discourse to become coarsened. Politicians and commentators repeat the terrible words, “There are no innocents in Gaza.” There are consequences to that kind of rhetoric. How far has this attitude penetrated the army and affected the conduct of some commanders in the field?

There are those among us on the right and left who have no questions. One camp insists on our total innocence. Another uncritically adopts the libels of our enemies.

I fear those Jews without ambivalence who, no matter how wrenching the dilemma, always offer a simple narrative that resolves our inner

conflicts. Especially now, as we face some of the most morally complicated dilemmas in our history, those one-dimensional voices must not be allowed to determine Jewish discourse.

We need to raise our questions now, because the war is taking its most fateful turn. The invasion of Gaza City, many of us fear, will be a strategic and moral disaster.

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, backed by heads of other security branches, has warned the government against going to this next phase of the war.

Seizing Gaza City, he said, will risk the lives of the hostages, confirm Israel as a pariah state, and result in the long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza. And two more consequences he didn’t mention: It will likely result in the worst humanitarian crisis of the war. And risking the lives of the hostages will tear apart Israeli society and likely the army, too.

Even if we win against Hamas, we lose.

Israel’s war with Iran and its terror proxies is among the most justified in our history. It is a test case for whether terrorism can be effectively fought in the 21st century. Whether the West realizes it or not, the outcome is crucial for it, too.

But the Gaza phase of the Israeli-Iranian war has reached the limits of its strategic effectiveness and, in the absence of a morally credible post-war plan, its justification. The war that began Oct. 7 is far from over, but its outcome will be determined in Tehran, not Gaza City.

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute.

Tobin

Continued on from Page 12 harm’s way by Hamas’ decision to launch a war and then hide behind civilians.

It’s because if we should have learned anything about the conflict from Oct. 7 — and the way it mobilized antisemites around the world — it is that compromise with Hamas and a Palestinian people that supports its war simply isn’t possible.

Our Western sensibilities and desire to settle all conflicts on a reasonable basis cry out in favor of some sort of compromise with the Palestinians.

But there is no compromise with those who are committed to the deaths of Israelis and Jews — not to achieve a limited political goal, but as a religious and national obligation.

Holding back from doing the necessary and awful job of eliminating the last Hamas strongholds won’t improve Israel’s image abroad or save its collective soul.

It will only ensure that the conflict will continue on an even more horrible basis sometime in the near future, guaranteeing more death and destruction for Jews and Arabs alike.

Of course, as is the case with every nation in history that ever fought a war, it’s correct to say that this government is flawed and that the army has made mistakes.

But Halevi argues that because Netanyahu has not stated in advance what Israel will do once the war is over, that essentially means the remnants of Hamas still holding out in the tunnels underneath

Gaza City should be left in place. That is neither a reasonable nor a moral argument.

His claim that under the current circumstances, “even if we win against Hamas, we lose,” may sound wise, but it is sophistry masquerading as morality.

No one should blindly trust Netanyahu — or the generals or politicians who disagree with him. But in a war in which the other side is prepared to sacrifice all of their own people in an effort to further Israel’s destruction, there is no substitute for complete victory over such amoral monsters.

It was, after all, sensible moderation that led Netanyahu and virtually all of his political opponents to support leaving Hamas in place, bribing them with payments and Palestinian work permits to maintain a ceasefire. And it might have worked if the Palestinians were equally interested in sensible moderation or coexistence. But they weren’t, and they aren’t.

And that leaves Netanyahu — or anyone else who would be placed in his position — with the obligation to safeguard Israel’s future by eliminating Hamas and its rule.

To put Israel on trial now, with much of the world wrongly embracing blood libels against Israel and normalizing antisemitism, and with the war’s outcome still hanging in the balance, isn’t the laudable process Halevi thinks it is.

You don’t have to sympathize with the prime minister or to support some of his coalition partners to believe that Halevi is mistaken.

Rather, his call for an outcry against Israel’s democratically

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LifeWise

elected government at this time is a weaponization of Jewish tra- Continued from Page Nine dition to create a political cudthey return from LifeWise. gel against Netanyahu to force “The curriculum teaches that him to end the conflict on terms because my kids are Jewish and that will ensure its repetition. don’t believe in Jesus, we’re goThat will satisfy those who ing to hell...And touching on just are so embittered by the prime some of the low-level antisemiminister that they view certain tism, just really more ignorant failure in Gaza as preferable to type comments,” she said. “It’s a his continued stay in office. very specific version of ChristiBut the calculus by which anity that, I think, goes against, they have arrived at that prein my opinion, goals of creating ferred outcome should not be an inclusive, positive religious mistaken for the sort of account- environment in America.” ing of our souls demanded by LifeWise, which started in Judaism.

Miamisburg in January, “unIn a war he admits the Israel equivocally condemns antisemiDefense Forces is striving to tism or any form of harassment fight morally, to declare it guilty or discrimination,” Czernejewof wrongdoing when that gives ski said. aid and comfort to antisemitic “Our mission is to provide mobs and Hamas, is not wisBible-based character educadom. And it’s not ethical. tion,” she said. “If any student The moral imperative facing were to make inappropriate or Jews this year should require hurtful remarks toward their them to join in solidarity with peers, whether inside or outside Israel’s efforts to extinguish of school, that behavior would Hamas, rather than virtue-signal be inconsistent with what Lifetheir ambivalence about a war Wise teaches.” against a truly evil opponent.

Rachel Evans, the mother of And not because they think a student in Centerville City Israel can do no wrong, but Schools, won't send her son to because they have come to LifeWise. Her family is Jewish. the correct conclusion about a LifeWise launches in Centerville zero-sum conflict in which any in September. outcome other than Hamas’ “You have these kids who are destruction is an unparalleled taught that they need to save moral disaster. people because they’re taught They should put aside parti- that hell is just the worst place san differences — both in Israel you could go,” she said. “And and in the United States — to they’re really trying to help their support efforts to achieve a friends, but that can be really result to end this war on terms damaging to a kid.” that will make it impossible Hearing LifeWise is in almost for the Palestinians to continue half of Ohio’s school districts it, regardless of their sense of makes Evans scared for her grievance about Israel’s contin- son’s future. “I have had past ued existence. experiences where I was prosAnything else is a betrayal of elytized to at a very young age our obligation to support those and it’s not a good feeling,” she fighting for the life of the Jewish said. “The whole point of it is to state, rather than to gratuitously disrupt the school day...There appoint ourselves as their are so many other times when judges. this would be appropriate, and I think during the school day is Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief not it.” of JNS.

L’ dor V’dor.

L’dor V’dor.

OBITUARIES Judith Kay Perlman passed Linda L. Shapiro, 81 of Clayton, away peacefully after her long passed away on Sept. 3. She was journey with dementia, on Sept. the daughter of Paul and Meta 6. She was known for her love of Boral of Miami. She is survived Judaism, music, and family. She by her husband, Joel Shapiro, was a beloved sister, aunt, and her mate of 60 years; her daughcousin to her family and many ters, Erika Spencer, of Ellicott friends. Judith was born Feb. 15, City, Md. and Marcie Shapiro 1948 in Kansas City, Mo. and of San Diego; and grandchilattended Southwest High School dren Caleb Spencer and Hailey where she found her musical Spencer. Contributions may be love of the clarinet. She carried made to Aullwood Audubon of this talent through for 35 years Dayton, Temple Israel, and Beth with the Kansas City AmeriAbraham Synagogue. can Legion Band, playing and traveling with them throughout Born in Cincinnati in 1931, Santhe United States and foreign dra Berman Zipperstein was countries as well. Judy worked the youngest child of Abe and as an administrative assistant Martha Berman. She was predeand music therapist. Judith’s ceased by her parents, brothers spiritual home was at Temple (Bertram and Lawrence), and Bnai Jehudah, where she was husband (Irvin). After graduatone of the “front row ladies” for ing from Walnut Hills High many years. She was proud to School, she enrolled at the Unibe a b’nai mitzvah, and especial- versity of Cincinnati. However, ly to blow the shofar at several her time there was interrupted High Holiday services. Judith when she married Irv in 1950. loved her family and spent Shortly thereafter, they moved time and vacations traveling to to Dayton to Denver, California, and Dayton start a famto be with those not in Kansas ily, where City. She is survived by her she raised sister, Marcia Cox of Dayton; her three children brother, Robert (Wolf) Perlman (Debi, Jon, of Salida, Co.; nephews Dan and Margie).

Cox and Eric Reda of Chicago, Sandy was Joseph, Jennie, and Jacob Cox of active in Baltimore; cousins Jon and Alan the Jewish Rothstein, Ron Davis, and Diane community, holding numerRavis. Judith was cared for in ous leadership roles, including her final years by the very caring president of the sisterhood at staff of Village Shalom Memory Beth Abraham Synagogue and Care and by Monarch Hospice. president of Hillel Academy The family requests donations Jewish day school. A lifelong be made to Temple B’nai Jehumember of Hadassah and pasdah, Village Shalom Memory sionate supporter of Israel, she Care, Temple Israel in Dayton, visited the country many times or the Jewish Federation of over many decades to visit her Greater Dayton. Interment was daughter, grandchildren, and at Rose Hill Cemetery, Kansas other extended family members.

City, Mo. In her early 50s, Sandy returned

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to school, earning a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1984 and a Master of Science in Education in 1986, both from the University of Dayton. She then spent several decades working with the geriatric community, leading exercise programs and extracurricular activities for senior citizens at the Shiloh House in Dayton. Growing up, Sandy had a large extended family with many strong role models, but none influenced her more than her mother, an excellent cook who created a warm household that Sandy sought to emulate. Sandy is survived by her three children: Debi (Shmuel) Lahav, Jon (Ellen) Zipperstein, and Margie (Bob) Stayton, nine grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Sandy will be remembered for her vibrant personality, her gift for making every meal simultaneously delicious and meaningful, and her deep connection to music.

Her sunny disposition was infectious from the time she was young until her last days. The best way to honor and remember Sandy is by singing along to one of her favorite tunes: Hello, Dolly from the musical, Hold Tight, Hold Tight by The Andrew Sisters, Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra, The Hut Sut Song by Sammy Kaye, Go Down, Moses by Nat King Cole.

Sandy loved her family and was deeply loved by them. She will be missed dearly. Interment was at Adath Israel Cemetery, Cincinnati. Memorial contributions to Hadassah would be greatly appreciated.

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www.commandroofing.com Email: info@commandroofing.com 2485 Arbor Blvd., Dayton, OH 45439

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Guinness World Record Holder Author World-Renowned Magician

International Performer

Sunday, November 2

nd

Shows at 2 PM & 7 PM @ Roger Glass Center for the Arts Scan QR Code or visit Daytonhillel.org/events for tickets

A Benefit for