Israeli hostages who were released Jan. 19 (from L): Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari.
Deborah Danan
People at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv react to news that three Israeli hostages have been released after a ceasefire agreement began between Israel and Hamas, Jan. 19.
Artifex Financial Group can help you make the financial decisions that will make the most of what you have now and help you build a more secure, enjoyable future.
Temple Beth Or kicks off its 40th anniversary year of celebrations Jan. 31-Feb. 1 with a guest cantor for Shabbat and a Jewish game show with dinner.
Shabbat service & gala Oneg, Jan. 31
Cantor Rosalie Will, lead consultant for the Union for Reform Judaism on musicand worship-related issues, will lead the temple's anniversary Shabbat Service, 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 31.
A product of URJ Camps and the North American Federation of Temple Youth, Will served as cantor of Temple Emanuel in Kensington, Md. from 2001 to 2017.
She is the founder and executive director of Sing Unto God, a nonprofit that trains song leaders to build sacred communities of learning, prayer, and healing.
"Our own temple choir director, Mary 'Mahira' Rogers, has worked with Cantor Will for the past year," Rabbi Judy Chessin noted in the congregation's newsletter, The Light. "They will blend our choir, our youth mu-
sicians, and all our voices to 'Sing unto God,' giving thanks for our 40 years together."
The service will be followed by a gala Oneg Shabbat. The community is invited to attend.
Dinner & Who Knows One? Live, Feb. 1
Micah Hart brings his Jewish geography-oriented game show, Who Knows One? Live, to the temple as the entertainment for its celebration dinner, 6 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 1.
A digital content creator,
Hart describes his Who Knows One? Live touring show as an evening of community building with entertainment, games, prizes, and storytelling "that illustrates how interconnected we all are."
Tickets to the dinner are $25 and include a drink. Additional drink tickets are $5.
Temple Beth Or is located at 5275 Marshall Rd., Washington Township. For more information and to RSVP for the dinner, go to templebethor.com or call the office at 937-435-3400.
Tu B’Shevat Kabbalistic Seder & Dinner
doug.kinsey@artifexfinancial.com 2305 Far Hills Avenue, Suite 206 | Oakwood, OH | 45419
Beth Jacob Congregation invites you to celebrate the New Year of Trees with us at our Tu B’Shevat Kabbalistic Seder & Dinner on Friday, Feb. 14 from 5:30—8:30 PM
Mincha at 5:30 PM Candle Lighting followed by Ma’ariv at 5:45 PM Dairy Meal at 6:30 PM
No charge for dinner Please RSVP by Feb. 7 by calling the synagogue office, 937-274-2149
Cantor Rosalie Will to lead anniversary Shabbat.
Who Knows One? Live host Micah Hart.
Photojournalist's book portrays a generation of daily life in Israel
Raised in Dayton, Larry Roberts hopes The Faces of Israel provides an understanding of Israeli diversity between 1982 and 2015.
By Marshall Weiss, The Observer
Over Larry Roberts' 50-year career in photojournalism, he's worked for United Press International, Agence France-Presse, The Blade in Toledo, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, from which he retired in 2018.
And he shot thousands of photos of daily life in Israel. Raised
in Dayton, Roberts and his wife, Sherri, lived in Haifa from 1982 to 1985. He's made 11 trips to Israel since, some on photo assignments, some personal.
Roberts was on the White House lawn Sept. 13, 1993 to photograph Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's handshake with Continued on Page Four
As a resident of our premier community, you have the opportunity to stay busy with: weekly movie showings, wine and cheese tastings, bingo games, artist spotlights, craft times and other organized groups within the community.
The dilemma Hamas has forced Israel into since Oct. 7, 2023 is almost unspeakable. But speak of it we must to better understand the hell that Israel faces.
Israel must free its hostages and eradicate the Hamas terror organization. But it can't have both.
If staying indoors is not your thing, you can take advantage of our transportation services to enjoy: day-trips to museums, the theater and the movies; scenic countryside drives; trips to local shopping malls and weekly outings for lunches to explore local restaurants’ cuisines.
Stay active & independant at One Lincoln Park
What parent wouldn't do anything they can to free their children from brutal captivity? But what if the terms keep the Jewish state in unrelenting jeopardy? Hamas will abduct and slaughter Israelis again and again in its mission to bring down the nation.
Despite the initial unity in Israel after Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas has thrown Israel into a battle against itself — the "heart" of the nation versus the "head" of the nation.
As one rabbi in our community told me when I was wrapping up this publication, "I wouldn't want to be the one to make that choice."
Marshall Weiss
Photojournalist Larry Roberts
Contributed
Larry Roberts
Included in photojournalist Larry Roberts' book, The Faces of Israel: a Conversation, is this 1989 image in Haifa at Purim. 'Under the cloud of the Arab intifada uprising,' Roberts explains in his caption, 'many young Israeli Jews were disturbed that they were being portrayed as the aggressors in the conflict and took to the streets, showing in costume what it meant to be a young Jew in a conflicted country.'
Bark Mitzvah Boy
Larry Roberts
Continued from Page Three
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the signing of the Oslo Accords.
It was in 1996 — a year after Rabin's assassination — when Roberts was back in Israel to photograph that anniversary that he first conceived of a book of his Israel photos.
Hebrew Union College Press in Cincinnati published that book, The Faces of Israel: a Conversation by Larry Roberts, in October. HUC Press selected 100 of his black-and-white Israel photos from 1982 to 2015 for the volume.
The Faces of Israel, he tells The Observer, is not about the conflict.
"I'm about the people living together, which they were back in the '80s when I lived there and for most of the time thereafter," he says via phone from Pittsburgh.
"I had very good access to an Arab village (Deir al-Asad), because we had very good friends there. There's a good selection of the ultra-Orthodox life, people on the street, from elections, the election of Rabin, back to when Yitzhak Shamir was campaigning in the '80s."
For each photo in the book, Roberts, 72, wrote a caption about the subjects' lives.
He hopes The Faces of Israel will give Americans an understanding of the Israeli people, "be they Arabs, Jewish, Christians, that they get an understanding of how people lived a daily life during that time period, prior to what we're seeing now."
He calls the book a historical document. "People don't live this way anymore. This was roughly when they signed the peace treaty, Rabin and Arafat. There was great hope at the time. I hope it gives an understanding of what Israelis are supposed to be: not Jews, not Arabs, not Christians — but Israelis."
Born in Queens, N.Y., Roberts' family moved to Dayton when he was a boy. His father went to work for Arthur Beerman and then owned pharmacies on Dayton's West Side. Roberts' parents, the late Francine and Irwin Roberts, joined Beth Abraham Synagogue. Larry's brother and sister-in-law, Jeff and Connie Roberts, are active members there.
"One of the things that brought me more or less into religion was going to Saturday morning (children's) services, which were always led by Dr. Lenny Spialter," he says. "His son is one of my oldest friends."
Roberts says his upbringing didn't emphasize Zionism.
"Nobody talked about anything
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The Dayton Jewish Observer, Vol. 29, No. 5. The Dayton Jewish Observer is published monthly by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, a nonprofit corporation, 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459.
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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
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• 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.
Larry Roberts
'A mother speaks to her fallen son in 1998 at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the creation of the State of Israel.'
particularly Israeli."
What got him hooked on Israel, he says, was his first taste of hummus, from a Sunday school teacher who brought in a can for her class to try. "I loved that. And then right about that time, we had Shlomo Carlebach come (to Beth Abraham and the Jewish Center campus). He was just great."
When Roberts graduated from Meadowdale High School in 1970, he began college at Kent State a few months after the shootings.
"We were always worried what was going to happen," he says. "We had a lot of demonstrations. But some of that is what got me into photojournalism rather than photo illustration, which was what I went there for. I just got more motivated by photographing news than photographing objects."
He learned about the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 when he was at Kent State's Hillel for services.
"Somebody was operating a shortwave set on the third floor of the Hillel building and came down and announced there was a war in Israel," he recalls.
At that point, Roberts was a staffer for the Daily Kent Stater and a photographer for the university's yearbook. "Even though it was Yom Kippur, we left. We walked over to the journalism build-
ing and I flipped on the United Press International wire and we started to get information." He helped raise money for Israel on campus and in Kent.
"Then we celebrated the end of the war, and I had a much better feeling for Israel."
Roberts also had friends who went to Israel; some made aliyah. He and Sherri took their first trip there in 1979.
"By the second day, I told my wife, 'We're going to move here.'"
They made aliyah in 1982. Roberts found work as a photographer and coordinator for foreign communications with the University of Haifa. His wife was an educator with the Health Ministry in Nazareth.
"And we said more and more, we're staying. The only reason we came back was medical."
This summer will mark 50 years since his brother Jeff donated a kidney for his transplant.
"The nephrologist (in Israel) told us to go back to the United States because they couldn't offer me any dialysis I needed. More and more I wanted to go back. And unfortunately, I could only go back on basic trips.
"We couldn't get medical insurance there. This is my indictment of the Israeli medical system. It was very dis-
appointing, but I accepted that, and just kept going back and shooting pictures."
Roberts' most recent trip was in 2015 for a project funded by the Pulitzer Center on the 20th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. His assignment was to conduct follow-up interviews with Israelis he and another reporter
had interviewed in 1998 for the 50th anniversary of the birth of the state.
"There weren't that many of those people left," he says. "So we were tweaking the project at that time because Israel was under the knife attacks, where they were stabbing people, and it had become a little more complicated to live there."
Photos by Larry Roberts
'Miluim, or reserve duty following basic service, can take a month each year out of a person's life. And after that month, it is time for a father and son to reconnect with each other in 1992.'
'In the Galilee village of Deir al-Asad in 1984, a young boy displays his disappointment when all the older children ran down the road to play, telling him he was too slow to keep up with them.'
'Come with me and rejoice in the Sabbath, the Chasid said on a Friday evening in 1998 to the two men who had plunked themselves down on an Allenby Street bench. They chose to pass on his offer.'
Shining bright on the Festival of Lights
Above: Beth Jacob Congregation's Chanukah party.
Left: Ira Segalewitz and Stacy Emoff at the JCC's Chanukah brunch with Hadassah and Jewish War Veterans Post 587.
Above: Rabbi Tina Sobo of Temple Israel read books about Chanukah to children with United Rehabilitation Services Youth Services Group and taught them about Chanukah menorahs and dreidels.
Left: Beth Abraham Synagogue congregants light their Chanukah menorahs after a kosher Chinese dinner.
Ethan (L) and Eric Zied pack lunches for St. Vincent De Paul's shelters as part of Jewish Family Services' Mitzvah Mission, Dec. 25.
Members of Temple Anshe Emeth in Piqua kindle the lights at their annual latke party.
Above: Leora Sherman, daughter of Mike and Marcie Sherman, takes in Chabad's menorah lighting at The Greene.
Terease Blazer/URS
Parent says daughter bullied for not joining LifeWise Academy program
By Megan Henry Ohio Capital Journal
Ohio school districts will soon be required to have a religious release time policy, paving the way for an expansion of LifeWise Academy.
While supporters praise it, some parents say their kids have been bullied for not participating, and point to school day disruption.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 8 into law Jan. 8, a bill that mandates Ohio school districts to have a religious release time policy. The law takes effect in April. The state’s current law permits such a policy, but this will now require one.
LifeWise Academy, a Hilliard-based religious instruction program, enrolls 50,000 students across 29 states — including about 160 Ohio school districts.
“LifeWise is just going to explode in Ohio,” said Rachel Snell, a former LifeWise volunteer.
The organization already has seen an enormous financial windfall. The Columbus Dispatch reported Jan. 14 that LifeWise netted a profit of over $17.2 million in its most recent IRS filing, up from $4.3 million the year before.
While religious organizations like the Center for Christian Virtue praise LifeWise, some parents criticize it — saying their children have been ostracized and bullied for not taking part in it and their education has suffered due to the disruption during the school day.
“They’re going to take over (Ohio school districts), for sure, because this
bill was specifically passed for LifeWise,” said Zachary Parrish, a parent who had LifeWise file a lawsuit against him. “LifeWise is the one lobbying for this bill.”
LifeWise Founder and CEO Joel Penton testified in support of the religious release time legislation at the Ohio Statehouse and celebrated the bill signing.
“We will continue to get the word out about LifeWise, encourage families to learn more about the benefits of enrolling their children in our program and work with communities who want LifeWise to ensure the program is successfully implemented,” Penton said in an email.
A main critique of LifeWise that was brought up during opponent testimony at the Statehouse was why can’t they offer programming before or after school?
“Holding LifeWise during school hours makes it easier for them to incorporate faith into their child’s day,” Penton said. “Further, kids benefit from Continued on Page Eight
Are you a veteran or family member of a veteran? Join Jewish War Veterans Post 587, which has served the Dayton region for nearly 80 years. Jewish War Veterans of America is the oldest national Jewish organization representing, supporting, and advocating for all uniformed service members, veterans, and their families. Contact jwvpost587@gmail.com for membership information and opportunities to serve.
MAR 1, 7:30 PM | SUN, MAR 2, 4:00 PM
Based in Hilliard, LifeWise Academy is a religious instruction program that started in 2019 and now enrolls 50,000 students across 29 states, including about 160 Ohio school districts.
the Bible’s character lessons, which encourages good behavior during the school day.”
The United States Supreme Court upheld release time laws in the 1952 Zorach v. Clauson case, which allowed a school district to have students leave school for part of the day to receive religious instruction.
Contact Patty Caruso at plhc69@gmail.com to advertise in The Observer.
Religious release time instruction must meet three criteria: the courses must take place off school property, be privately funded, and students must have parental permission.
'She was told she was going to hell.'
Parrish said his daughter was bullied and ostracized by her classmates for not attending LifeWise Academy.
“She was told she was going to hell,” he said.
Penton, however, said students who attend LifeWise are “more cooperative, engaged and better behaved.”
Parrish now lives in Fort Wayne, Ind. His daughter was a second-grader in Defiance City Schools in 2021. Coming off the heels of remote learning due to the COVID pandemic, his daughter was struggling to read and he opted not to send his daughter to LifeWise.
“I knew immediately my daughter wasn’t going to that because we’re not Christian,” he said. “I’m not going to send her to a program with people I don’t know during school. That’s crazy to me.”
Parrish’s daughter, along with the other students who didn’t attend LifeWise, were called “LifeWise leftovers.”
When her classmates would go to their weekly LifeWise classes, she went to a study hall in the gym to work independently.
“Why is my daughter being deprived of her educational time for this program?” Parrish said.
LifeWise filed a lawsuit against Parrish over the summer for copyright infringement, claiming he uploaded and shared LifeWise’s instructional materials.
“They were worried people were going to start their own program with their material,” Parrish said.
He filled out LifeWise’s application to be a volunteer which gave him access to their internal documents and curriculum, so he shared them online.
The lawsuit was recently settled.
“We dropped the lawsuit because Parrish has agreed to remove full versions of LifeWise curriculum from Facebook and elsewhere and will not distribute full copies,” Penton said.
LifeWise must now give access to its complete and current curriculum to anyone who requests it. However, LifeWise will only make the curriculum available for 48 hours at a time, but there is no limit on how many times the curriculum can be requested.
“We believe in transparency and have encouraged families and communities to learn more
Dr.
about LifeWise and the positive impact of Bible-based character education,” Penton said. “Our concern has always been ensuring that the parameters of our licensing agreement with the publisher of the curriculum are followed.”
Parrish said the settlement was a good win.
“The main thing was always that we wanted parents to be able to read the curriculum,” he said. “Before I posted it, they weren’t letting anybody see it.”
Eaton Schools
Eaton Community Schools in Preble County had an afterschool LifeWise program for three years, Rachel Snell said.
“It was very hush-hush,” Snell said, recalling how people would cringe when she said she volunteered at Eaton. “I felt like the illegitimate child that we actually don’t talk about at all.”
She volunteered with the LifeWise program in Eaton Schools for a year and a half and one of her children attended their LifeWise program.
THE REGION
have any before or after school programs.”
Even though Snell supports religious release time, she wrote a letter to DeWine asking him to veto H.B. 8.
“I don’t think we need a new law,” she said. “I don’t think that LifeWise is the program that I want doing all of them.”
Ashland Schools
Ashland City Schools has had LifeWise in their district for about three and a half years and about 300 elementary and middle school students attend LifeWise classes. The district doesn’t offer it at the high school level.
'These girls are pressured to try to get other kids to join, so now my kids are asked to proselytize'
LifeWise tried to transition to during the school day last spring, but the district’s school board did not want it during the day so the district’s program ended in the spring, she said.
“Eaton was an experimental program which helped us develop the model we have today,” Penton said. “We do not
“The piece that is missing in public school is we don’t offer a class that you can have those conversations that you’re loved by a higher power, and those real kind of spiritual conversations that you have to kind of shy away from,” said Ashland City School Superintendent Steve Paramore. “Religious release time, I believe, can fill that void.”
Kindergarten through fifth grade students typically attend LifeWise during their library and STEMM special class and the middle school students attend LifeWise during their lunch time, he said.
LifeWise has positively impacted Ashland Schools, Paramore claimed.
“I do believe that the students that have attended do come back relatively excited
about the time that they spent there,” he said. “We’ve not seen any adverse situations. To me, it’s a win-win situation, and they’ve been nothing but a benefit to our district.”
Fredericktown LifeWise
Two of Dawne Knoch Anthony’s daughters attend LifeWise classes, but neither of them want to go. Knoch Anthony doesn’t even want her daughters to go, but her exhusband gave his permission for the girls to go to LifeWise, so they attend LifeWise’s weekly class at a nearby church.
“If they want to go, that would be one thing,” Knoch Anthony said.
LifeWise said they accept permission slips from either the custodial parent or the legal guardian of the student.
“In the case of a split custody arrangement, LifeWise accepts the permission slip from either parent,” Penton said. “Just like any other extracurricular activity, LifeWise leaves it to the parents to decide if their child will attend.”
Knoch Anthony has a sixth grader and a fourth grader in Fredericktown Local Schools in Knox County. The sixth grader goes to LifeWise during her study hall and the fourth grader goes during one of her recesses.
“We don’t want (LifeWise) to disrupt our children’s school day, and that’s what (LifeWise is) doing,” Knoch Anthony said. “These girls are pressured to try to get other kids to join, so now my kids are asked to proselytize, and that’s not part of the school day.”
A Taste of Tu B’Shevat
Saturday, February 8 after Kiddush lunch
At a Trump inauguration event in Jerusalem, optimism with undercurrent of unease
• Celebrate the Birthday of the Trees • Connect to Israel & the Environment
• Enjoy Tasty Treats
Rick Pinsky Brunch
Speaker Series
Sponsored by Men’s Club Sundays, 10 AM • $9 • RSVP to 937-293-9520
February 9
Neal Gittleman
Artistic Director & Conductor, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, The Di erence Between Orchestral, Opera and Ballet Conducting
With World Wide Wrap training session prior to brunch, at 8:30 AM. We’ll celebrate with Jews around the world the mitzvah of wrapping Te llin at the morning minyan.
February 23
Jonathan McNeal Manager, The Neon, My Personal Film Journey and the Upcoming Oscars
By Deborah Danan, JTA JERUSALEM
— With an evangelical pastor’s arm around his shoulders, Yehudah Glick recited the Jewish priestly blessing on Jan. 20 to a crowd in Jerusalem.
to the stage to play a plucky, bluegrass version of YMCA, a staple of Trump’s campaign rallies.
“The one thing we want to see Trump bring into (the presidency) is the concept of God,” said Glick, a rabbi who served in Israel’s parliament as part of the conservative Likud Party. He called on the new president to ensure that “the friendship between Israel and the evangelical community be strengthened, and stronger than ever before.”
Then, to a smattering of applause, he delivered another quote from the Bible: “Zion will be a house of prayer for all nations.”
Glick and the pastor, Mike Evans, had gathered with the crowd to celebrate Donald Trump’s inauguration. After Glick spoke, an American-Israeli folk band called the Solomon Brothers took
Polls show that a large majority of Israelis welcome Trump’s return to office, and some of his most enthusiastic fans in the country were on hand for this event. It was held at the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem’s downtown, an institution Evans founded to highlight the contributions of Christian Zionists, and held jointly by the museum and ILTV, an Israeli English-language television station.
Organizers said a thousand people turned up for the event, which was titled Congratulations Donald Trump, Israel loves you. American fare, including donuts, was served, and attendees received MAGA-inspired merchandise, including red baseball caps adorned with U.S. and Israeli flags and the phrase, “God Bless President Trump.”
“He knows he owes his victory to the
The Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem — a Christian Zionist organization — hosted an event Jan. 20 to mark Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president.
Deborah Danan
evangelical community, it’s very clear when he brings God into every single conversation and even his policies,” said Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, an Israeli government envoy, during a panel at the event. “And that gives me a lot of hope that it’s going to be way better for the Jewish people and the state of Israel.”
The event gathered both newer and longtime fans of the president. Vicky Cohn, a native of Germany who recently moved back to Israel after spending a long time in Europe, said she changed her mind about Trump after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
“I was always a left-winger and was very influenced by all the talk that he could be a full-scale dictator,” she said. “But then the 7th of October happened and everything changed for me.”
Now, she said, she admires the qualities that give many of Trump’s critics pause, including his “strong-man attitude, his unapologetic way, but also his brashness.”
American-Israeli Yehiel Shekhtman, meanwhile, said he has “rooted for Trump since day one in 2016,” and said he has “a lot of love for President Trump and for everything he stands for and does and tries to do.”
But even among Trump’s most fervent fans, an undercurrent of unease could be detected Jan. 20. Lately, Trump has focused his energies, when it comes to the region, on securing a ceasefire in
understand or even research the terms of this deal, and I found that to be a bit ignorant,” he said.
Another attendee, Lauren Adilev, said she was fearful about what Trump would push for next. “I’m very excited about Trump 2 but concerned about a peace deal with Saudi Arabia being forced on Israel in exchange for destroying every Jewish community in Yehuda and Shomron,” using the Hebrew words for the Israeli right’s term for the West Bank.
zero tolerance for Hamas.” He added, referencing reports of a day-after plan for the war, “The Saudis, the Emiratis, Egyptians will help drain the swamp in Gaza.”
Evans also praised fellow Christian Zionist former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whom Trump has tapped to be ambassador to Israel.
the Israel-Hamas war. That effort has consternated some on the Israeli right, including many of the Trump admirers who showed up. Multiple attendees said they felt he rushed into the deal, in which Israel is exchanging hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners for hostages held by Hamas.
“I felt a bit like he didn’t really care too much,” Cohn said. “What would have happened if he would have waited another week or two weeks? I want Hamas to be totally defeated and now it seems like they have the upper hand, and can unleash thousands of terrorists on Israel.”
Shekhtman felt similarly, expressing skepticism that the deal would actually liberate all 94 hostages still held by Hamas. “It feels like he didn’t properly
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Hassan-Nahoum expressed disappointment that Trump didn’t mention antisemitism or campus protests against Israel in his inaugural address, which was not live-streamed at the event. Still, she said, “Actions speak louder than words.”
In response, Evans said he was unconcerned. “I have the pen that he signed the antisemitism campus bill with. He gave it to me.” He may have been referring to Trump’s 2019 executive order on antisemitism.
Others in the crowd said they had no fears about Trump’s second term. “I think Trump is good for us,” said Yisrael Cohen, who happened on the event by chance. “He will help bring peace to the area. I’m not worried about the hostage deal. I believe Trump will show Hamas who is in control here.”
And in his own remarks Jan. 20, Evans said, “Trump has absolutely
“Mike Huckabee supports sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” Evans said, using the Israeli right’s term for the West Bank. “And don’t think for a second that Donald Trump didn’t know that when he chose him.”
Huckabee sent a video message to the gathering, saying he was “looking forward to urgently getting on the mission and to bring(ing) peace, security and great opportunity.”
Many at the event were diehard Trump fans. But even those who said they were still acclimating themselves to the second-term president said Jan. 20 was a time to celebrate.
“He’s delivered more than anybody else has delivered,” said Joseph Berman, who said he didn’t appreciate Trump’s “personal foibles.”
“Under him, America’s first priority is Israel,” Berman said. “It’s been a major change from the previous administration, which has been trying to play both sides in the Israel-Gaza conflict. He’s really been very forceful that there’s going to be no other options.”
Pastor Mike Evans (L) and Rabbi Yehuda Glick pray together at an event celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, Jan. 20.
Deborah Danan
From hell to safety in a few frenzied seconds
This deal with Hamas will be a long, national rollercoaster ordeal — joy to dread, relief to horror. All the more reason to celebrate the release of Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher.
By David Horovitz
Four hundred and seventy-one days.
Four hundred and seventy-one days after they were dragged away into the dark underworld of Hamas captivity, where nobody knows what hell they endured, Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, emerged into the light on the afternoon of Jan. 19.
And they were not merely standing and walking but also, incredibly, in some of the very first clips and pictures, smiling.
Emily’s beaming face as she and her mother phoned their family, her bandaged left hand waving — two fingers missing from where she was shot on that worst of all days, Oct. 7, 2023 — took the national breath away. (Hamas gunmen who burst into her home at Kibbutz Kfar Aza shot her dog, she has reportedly told her family and friends in her first conversations with them, and she was hit, too, as she tried to comfort her dying pet.)
And then, minutes later, the pictures of all three of these young women embracing their mothers surely moved many Israelis, and others all over the world who love this country and its people, to tears of joy and relief.
Romi cradled by her mother Meirav, a gracious, noble presence in innumerable television interviews through the many awful months.
Emily and her mother, Mandy, during that first phone call with the rest of the family.
And Doron, her face not visible, hand covering her eyes, her cheek against her mother Simona’s, hugging each other like they’ll never let go.
Fourteen months since the last deal with Hamas, fears have mounted inexorably for the almost 100 hostages still captive in Gaza.
The nation waited, month after month after month — blaming Hamas, blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, blaming both — for the agreement that never came.
It held its breath, after this new deal was finally reached, signed, approved, and supposed to take effect, when Hamas delayed the release of the names of these first three to be freed.
And it watched with no little dread Jan. 19 when dozens of Hamas gunmen, hailed by a large cheering crowd, commandeered Gaza City’s Saraya Square for a wild, self-aggrandizing daylight ceremony before a vast global audience.
But in a few frenzied seconds, it was done: Doron, Emily and Romi scrambled the five or so paces from one vehicle to another, one reality to another — from Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and thence to merciful Israeli safety.
The joy and relief are heartfelt and deep, but no, not overwhelming.
Because nobody can forget for a second that this first, six-week phase of the deal has only just begun. And given that not all of the 33 women, children and men to be freed in this so-called humanitarian phase are alive, there will be much that is terrible before it is over.
Because nobody can forget that the agreement comes at the price of the release of hundreds of the most dangerous terrorists, many, likely most, of whom have every intention of killing again.
Because nobody can forget that Hamas aims to use this deal, as it has always intended to use the hostages it seized, to enable its revival.
Because nobody can forget that 94 hostages are, unthinkably, still held captive in Gaza.
David Horovitz is the founding editor of The Times of Israel.
So, what do you think?
OPINION
As a new Trump administration begins,
I’m looking to this Soviet
Jewish dissident for guidance
By Emily Tamkin, The Forward
As I listened to President Donald Trump’s inauguration speech Jan. 20, I thought about Alexander Esenin-Volpin.
It had been a morning of Trump updates that weren’t just upsetting, but also befuddling. It began with news that the president plans to try to end birthright citizenship via executive order, despite birthright citizenship being enshrined in the 14th Amendment — meaning a president does not have the power to single-handedly retract it. In his inaugural address, Trump talked about ending efforts to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” a clear prelude to executive orders, also announced Jan. 20, that will aim to end protections for trans and gender-nonconforming people and quash diversity, equity and inclusion programs — as though it is these protections that discriminate against Americans, when it is their elimination that will do so.
As we enter another four years of government under Trump, moments like these — in which what the president says seems to blatantly contradict the law of the land or even reality — examples like that of Esenin-Volpin, a dissident mathematician and poet in the Soviet Union, will be a crucial reminder of how we ought to react.
Esenin-Volpin, born in 1924, was the illegitimate son of Sergei Esenin, a famous poet, and Nadezhda Volpina, a Jewish translator. He became a pioneer in what’s known as the rights-based dissident movement, which was engaged in what the historian Benjamin Nathans, in his book To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement, called “civil obedience.”
Their core idea was not that theirs was a lawless society, devoid of rights. They did have rights. The problem was that those with power didn’t recognize those rights — or the laws, or the constitution — and the people let them get away
with it.
So the rights-based dissidents — many of whom had at least one Jewish parent, and consequently were discriminated against for being Jewish, even if they resented being seen or thought of as such — decided to stop letting them.
Esenin-Volpin was “the first person in our life who spoke seriously about Soviet laws,” the writer and activist Vladimir Bukovsky once recalled.
“We laughed at him: ‘What kind of laws can there be in this country? Who cares?’” To which Esenin-Volpin replied, per Bukovsky’s remembrance: “Nobody cares. We ourselves are to blame for not demanding fulfillment of the laws.”
Esenin-Volpin learned what the Soviet Code of Criminal Procedure said, and the rights that it afforded him.
For instance, that it banned leading questions in interrogations, and gave those under interrogation the right to write their responses down themselves, rather than have them taken down — perhaps inaccurately — by a state representative. He taught others. And went on from there.
Ahead of the 1966 trial of the writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuri Daniel, the rightsbased dissidents protested for an open trial, demanding that the Soviet constitution, which guaranteed one, be respected. (They held a protest on Dec. 5, 1965: Soviet Constitution Day.)
Esenin-Volpin was similarly among those who demanded transparency in the 1968 Galanskov-Ginzburg trial, in which four people — Yuri Galanskov, Alexander Ginzburg, Alexey Dobrovolsky and Vera Lahkova — were convicted of disseminating anti-Soviet slander.
Long before Mikhail Gorbachev was touting the principle of glasnost, or openness, in the lead-up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the rightsbased dissidents were demanding openness and transparency from their government, making the case that it was the government’s responsibility to demonstrate commitment to its own laws.
They argued that they were entitled to such adherence by right, under the law of the land — and that that law mattered, even if their government acted every day as though it did not.
“We are all citizens of the USSR by virtue of having been born on its territory,” EseninVolpin wrote in an essay called What Is Soviet? but “the citizens of the USSR are obliged to observe the written laws, not ideological directives.”
The lesson I take from Esenin-Volpin is not that if we just follow this one neat trick, everything will work out — that Trump’s most frightening policies won’t become law, that people won’t suffer under them, or that our new president’s very rhetoric won’t make us question the facts of the world we live in.
That is not how it worked out for Esenin-Volpin’s movement. Soviet dissidents underwent arrest, imprisonment, psychiatric torture, and exile. Whatever gains they did win, it is not as though, looking at Russia today, their legacy is one of overwhelming success. Per a 2022 State Department report, in 2020, Russian courts acquitted just 0.34% of all defendants — a suggestion that the courts Esenin-Volpin fought to hold to account still fundamentally operate as tools of the state.
More recently, Amnesty International warned that Russia was using anti-terrorism laws to curb dissent, a reminder both of the limits of civil obedience and of the limitless potential for unjust interpretation of laws under authoritarian governments.
Instead, the lesson I take is that there is an inherent value to insisting on our right to a government that follows its own rules — and that the earlier and more intensely we begin that insistence, the less likely we will be to succumb to the same inertia Bukovsky chronicled Esenin-Volpin speaking out against.
As Vladimir Dremlyuga, who protested the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in Continued on Page 26
February 2025
UPCOMING EVENTS
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2 - 4PM CABS – Sara Glass, Kissing Girls on Shabbat
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 10AM - 12PM JFS Drive-Thru Mitzvah Mission
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 4 - 5:30PM Tu B'Shevat Treehouse Adventure with Chabad CKids and PJ Library
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 7 - 9PM CABS – Eric Z. Weintraub, South of Sepharad: The 1492 Jewish Expulsion from Spain
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 9AM - 4PM JCC Kids’ Day O
Connect with us! Check out our events. For more information, check out our calendar at jewishdayton.org
SCHOLARSHIPS & STUDENT LOANS
Heuman Scholarship & Interest-free Student Loans
Applications are now available. Completed applications are due Friday, March 28.
Are you a member of the Dayton Jewish community who will be enrolled at a two- or four-year college, technical program, or graduate school in the academic year 2025-2026? If so, you may be eligible to apply for a college scholarship and/or interest-free student loan through the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton.
It is easy to apply for both incredible opportunities at the same time on a single, unified application.
To request the application and to learn more about the Heuman Scholarship, please contact Alisa Thomas, executive assistant, at 937-610-1796 or athomas@jfgd.net.
If you have questions specific to interest-free student loans, please contact Tara Feiner, executive director of Jewish Family Services, at 937-401-1546 or tfeiner@jfgd.net
INNOVATION GRANTS
Do you have an innovative idea for a collaborative program that will engage and bring together the Greater Dayton Jewish community? Apply for a Jewish Federation Innovation Grant!
Contact Tara Feiner at tfeiner@jfgd.net or 937-401-1546 to request an application packet. Completed applications are due by noon on Friday, March 28. The application packet includes:
• Innovation Grant application (Adobe PDF) signed by the senior o cer of the organization(s)
• Innovation Grant budget application (Microsoft Excel)
• First-time applicants must supply a copy of the organization’s IRS tax exempt certificate 501(c)(3) for all groups involved if there is a collaboration. Prior Innovation Grant awardees do not need to resubmit their tax-exempt status.
For more information visit, jewishdayton.org
February 2025
m itzvah m ission m itzvah m ission m itzvah m ission
JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
Sunday, February 9, 10AM – 12PM
The Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville, 45459
Back by popular demand, JFS is hosting another Drive-Thru Mitzvah Mission!
Help us feed guests at St. Vincent de Paul’s shelters with frozen casseroles and provide high-need items for People and Paws of Greater Dayton, a local pet-food pantry that helps those in need care for their pets. JFS will take your donations and provide you with a sweet treat in return. If you have questions, please contact Jacquelyn Archie, JFS administrative assistant, at jarchie@jfgd.net or at 937-610-1555.
RSVP by February 7 at jewishdayton.org/events.
High-Need Items for People and Paws
dry puppy food, dry kitten food, dog treats, cat treats, black permanent markers
Frozen Macaroni & Cheese Casserole Recipe
• 1-1/2 lbs (24 oz) elbow macaroni
• 2 lbs cheese, melted
• 1 can (10.5 oz) cream of celery soup
• 2-1/2 cups milk
Cook macaroni and drain. Melt cheese separately and add to macaroni. Add milk and soup. Mix well. Pour into sprayed pan. Cover loosely and place in refrigerator until completely cooled. Then cover tightly with sturdy foil lid and freeze. Casserole should be frozen for 36 hours.
Sunday, March 2, 2 – 4PM at Poelking Woodman Lanes
3200 Woodman Drive, Kettering, 45420
Join the JCC Boomers for a Bowling Party!
Ramps will be available if needed
Cost: $12 per person
(Includes 2 hours of bowling, shoes, and complimentary soda and water)
Additional food and drinks available for purchase.
RSVP by Monday, February 24 at jewishdayton.org/events or contact Stacy Emo at semo @jfgd.net, 937-610-5513.
If bowling isn't your thing, come cheer on your friends for FREE!
6 - 9PM
A Women’s Freedom Seder
Thursday, March 27
OUR JOURNEY FROM SLAVERY TO STRENGTH
Beth Abraham Synagogue (350 Sugar Camp Circle, Oakwood)
Cost: $54 per person RSVP at jewishdayton.org/events by Thursday, March 6.
The JCC Women's Seder Committee invites you to the 11th Annual Women's Seder for a night of comradery, ritual, and dinner.
This year the Women’s Seder Committee is supporting children’s literacy in our community. We will be collecting NEW books for children from Pre-K through middle school for the Brunner Literacy Center. Please bring your book.
Alternatively, if you would rather give a monetary donation you may do so either by check or online at brunnerliteracy.org. We thank you for your support.
Questions? Contact Stacy Emo at semo @jfgd.net.
The Jewish Community Center is proud to collaborate with women from Beth Abraham Synagogue, Beth Jacob Congregation, Hadassah, Temple Beth Or, and Temple Israel.
Wednesday, April 2, 7:30 PM
Camelot (Small Cast Version)
The Loft Theatre 126 N. Main Street, Dayton, 45402
Meet at the theatre
The JCC Culture Club is at it again! Do you love live theatre? Join us as we journey to attend exciting live performances at Dayton area theatres. Come with friends or make new ones as we sit together and enjoy Dayton’s finest live entertainment.
$44 for center seating (no booking fee required).
Limited seating available. Must register by February 24. To purchase tickets, visit jewishdayton.org/events or call 937-610-1555.
Questions? Contact Stacy Emo at semo @jfgd.net.
Tu B'Shevat Treehouse Adventure with Chabad CKids and PJ Library
Sunday, February 9, 4 – 5:30PM Chabad of Greater Dayton 2001 Far Hills Avenue, Oakwood, 45419
Step into the CKids Tu B'Shevat Treehouse Adventure! Climb into an interactive journey where you will build mini mitzvah treehouses, and discover the essence of Tu B'Shevat and what it means. Kosher dinner to follow.
No cost. RSVP at jewishdayton.org/events by February 5
To register, visit jewishdayton.org/events
Questions? Please contact Kate Elder at kelder@jfgd.net
PITTSBURGH
SPORTS SPECIALTIES
Marc Jacob at 937-401-1545 or mjacob@jfgd.net.
February 2025
JEWISH
FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
Legacies, Tributes, & Memorials
JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER DAYTON ENDOWMENT FUND
In honor of Wendy Rachlin and Roger Pankake
Kevin Rachlin
TALA ARNOVITZ FUND
In memory of Joan Isaacson
Beverly Saeks
RESILIENCE SCHOLARSHIP FUND
In memory of Daniel Weckstein
Mary Bellinger
HOLOCAUST PROGRAMMING FUND
In memory of Barry Greenberg
Helene Gordon FEDERATION
JOAN AND PETER WELLS AND REBECCA LINVILLE FAMILY, CHILDREN AND YOUTH FUND
In memory of Joan Isaacson
Joan and Peter Wells
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES FRIENDS DRIVE
In appreciation of Mrs. Tyler Mazer and Family
Angela Davis
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 endowments benefits our Jewish community while honoring a loved one. For more information, please contact Janese R. Sweeny, Esq. CFRE, at 937-401-1542.
Jewish Family Services sincerely thanks the following for supporting our 2024 JFS Friends Drive
FRIEND ($5+)
Beth Adelman
Mary Ann Albert
Jacquelyn Archie
Stanley and Connie Blum
Dena Briskin
Icie Evans
Beverly A. Farnbacher
Charles and Gail Friedman
Gary and Deborah Froelich
Felix Garfunkel
Patricia Gates
Michael Goldstein
Helene Gordon
Arlene Graham
Marsha Johnston
Donna Kabako
Rabbi Shmuel and Naomi Klatzkin
Bob and Janice Kohn
Shirlee Masters
Cicely Nathan
Dennis and Linda Patterson
Rita Dushman Rich
Samuel Rosengarten
Max Rubin
Dan and Kim Sha er
Todd and Jody Sobol
AMBASSADOR ($100+)
Joyce Anderson
Matthew and Elaine Arnovitz
Martin H. Belsky
Jack and Maryann Bernstein
Zandra Gibson
Danny and Juliet Glaser
Robert and Debby Goldenberg
Donna Holt
Michael Ja e
Kim and Candace Kwiatek
Morton and Phyllis Levine
Beverly A. Louis
Helen Markman
Irvin and Gayle Moscowitz
Linda Novak
Burt and Alice Saidel
Joseph D. Saks
Craig and Annie Self
Felice Shane
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD
Allan Spetter and Claudia Birch
Robert and Suzanne Thum
Lawrence Wagenfeld
Ronald Wasserstrom
Donald and Caryl Weckstein
Gary Wiviott
SUSTAINER ($250+)
Gary and Andrea Abrams
Marni Flagel
Steven and Linda Horenstein
BENEFACTOR ($500+)
Ed and Amy Boyle
Jay and Michele Dritz
Ken and Libby Elbaum
Adam and Tara Feiner
David and Lynn Goldenberg
Larry and Marilyn Klaben
Debbie Oppenheimer
SPONSOR ($1,000+)
Nancy Campbell
Debbie Kirschman-Klopsch
Sam Levin Foundation
Amy Munich
Debbie Kirschman (Chair) • Joseph D. Saks (Past Chair) • Gary Abrams • Beverly Farnbacher • Juliet Glaser
Michael Goldstein • Helene Gordon • Tyler Mazer • Rita Dushman Rich • Rabbi Tina Sobo
Tara Feiner (Executive Director) • L. Kate Scarpero (Licensed Social Worker)
10 households, 28 people supported with $9,036 in Specific Assistance for rent, groceries, transportation, and utilities.
1,061 rides getting our clients to doctor appointments, social engagements, beauty appointments, and errands.
127 clients listened to and supported in their time of need.
Classes
Beth Abraham Classes: Tues., Feb. 4, 11, 10 a.m.: The Making of a Mensch on Zoom. To register, email bas@ bethabrahamdayton.org. 937.293.9520.
Beth Jacob Classes: w. Rabbi Agar on Zoom. Tuesdays, 7 p.m.: Torah. Thursdays, 7 p.m.: Thursdays of Thought. Register at 937-274-2149.
Chabad Classes: Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.: Talmud Class in person & Zoom. Call for Zoom link. Tuesdays, noon: Lunch & Learn. Call for class locations. chabaddayton.com. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-643-0770.
Temple Beth Or Classes: Sundays, 10 a.m.: Adult Hebrew. Sat., Feb. 1, 15, 10 a.m.: Apocryphal Study in person & Zoom. templebethor.com/ events. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 937-435-3400.
Temple Israel Classes: Tuesdays, noon: Talmud in person & Zoom. Wednesdays, 10 a.m.: Torah w. Rabbi BodneyHalasz, in person. Saturdays, 9:15 a.m.: Virtual Torah Study on Zoom. For Torah Study Zoom info., email Fran Rickenbach, franwr@gmail.com. Sun., Feb. 2, 23, noon: Stories for the Sake of Argument w. Rabbi Sobo. Fri., Feb. 14, 11 a.m.: Living w. Loss w. Rabbi Bodney-Halasz. Sat., Feb. 15, 9:15 a.m.: Torah Study in person & Zoom. tidayton.org/ calendar. Thurs., Feb. 20, 3:30 p.m.: Living w. Ambiguous Loss w. Rabbi Bodney-Halasz. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. RSVP to 937-496-0050.
Children/Youths
Chabad & PJ Library's Tu B’Shevat Treehouse Adventure: Sun., Feb. 9, 4 p.m. Free. For info., contact Kate Elder, kelder@jfgd.net. RSVP by Feb. 5 at jewishdayton.org/ events. At Chabad, 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood.
JCC Kids’ Day Off: Mon, Feb. 17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Grades K-7. For info. & to register, contact Suzzy Nandrasy, snandrasy@ jfgd.net, 937-401-1550. RSVP by Feb 10. At Temple Beth Or, 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp.
Hillel Academy Family Open House & Tour: Sun., Feb. 23, 6 p.m. Wear your PJs. Questions & RSVPs contact Meryl Hattenbach, mhattenbach@ daytonhillel.org. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. 937-2939520.
Adults
Temple Beth Or Anniversary Dinner & Who Knows One: w. Micah Hart. Sat., Feb. 1, 6 p.m. $25 incl. dinner & 1 drink. Addl. drinks $5 ea. RSVP at templebethor.com, 937-435-3400. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp.
Temple Israel Ryterband Lecture Series: Sundays, 9:45 a.m. $7. Feb. 2, HUC's David Aaron, Rethinking Pirke Avot. Feb. 9, JCRC Dir. Jeff Blumer, Community Relations & Antisemitism. Feb 23, The Dayton Jewish Observer's Marshall Weiss, Temple Israel at 175. RSVP to 937-496-0050. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton.
Temple Israel Sacred Stitching: Tues., Feb. 4, 18, 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.
Beth Abraham Rick Pinsky Brunch Speaker Series: Sundays, 10 a.m. $9. Feb. 9, Neal Gittleman, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, The Difference Between Orchestral, Opera & Ballet Conducting. Feb. 23, Jonathan McNeal, The Neon, My Personal Film Journey & the Upcoming Oscars. RSVP to 937-293-9520. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood.
Hillel Academy Wine & Wonder Open House & Tour: Wed., Feb. 19, 6 p.m. $10 person, $18 couple. RSVP to Meryl Hattenbach, mhattenbach@daytonhillel.org. 305 Sugar Camp Circle, Oakwood.
JCC Boomers Bowling: Sun., Mar. 2, 2 p.m. $12 incl. shoe rental & drink. RSVP by Feb. 24 at jewishdayton.org/events. For info. contact Stacy Emoff, semoff@jfgd.net. Poelking Woodman Lanes, 3200 Woodman Dr., Kettering. 937-6101555.
Women
Chabad Women’s Circle Tu
B’Shevat Dinner Celebration: Wed., Feb. 12, 6:30 p.m. $36. RSVP at chabaddayton.com/ cwc. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-643-0770.
Chabad Tu B’Shevat Community Dinner: Fri., Feb. 7, 5:30 p.m. $25 adults, $10 kids 3-12. RSVP at chabaddatyon.com/ events. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-643-0770.
Beth Abraham Taste of Tu B’Shevat: Sat., Feb. 8 following noon Kiddush lunch. RSVP to 937-293-9520. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood.
Beth Jacob Tu B’Shevat Kabbalistic Seder & Dinner: Fri., Feb 14, 5:30 p.m. Call Tammy Evans by Feb. 7 to RSVP, 937274-2149. 7020 N. Main St., Harrison Twp.
Temple Anshe Emeth Tu B'Shevat Seder: Sat., Feb. 15 following 10 a.m. Shabbat service. 320 Caldwell St., Piqua. For info., contact Steve Shuchat, 937-726-2116, ansheemeth@gmail.com.
Community
Temple Beth Or 40th Anniversary Shabbat Service: Fri., Jan. 31, 7 p.m. W. Cantor Rosalie Will & gala Oneg. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 937435-3400.
JFS Drive Thru Mitzvah Mission: Sun., Feb. 9, 10 a.m. Collecting items for St. Vincent DePaul Shelters. For info., contact Jacquelyn Archie, jarchie@ jfgd.net. RSVP at jewishdayton. org/events. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles, Dr., Centerville. 937-610-1555.
JCC Youth Theatre Presents Disney’s Descendants: Sat., Feb. 15, 8 p.m. & Sun., Feb. 16, 2 p.m. & 6 p.m. Tickets at daytonlive.org. For info., contact Suzzy Nandrasy, snandrasy@ jfgd.net. PNC Arts Annex, 46 W. 2nd St., Dayton.
The Grandview Foundation has presented Dr. Judith O'Connell with its Distinguished Service Award. Judith began her work with Kettering Health Dayton/ Kettering Health Washington Township in 1980. She's served as chair of the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine section and as a member of the medical executive committee. She's a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Osteopathy, a member of its board of governors, and a recipient of its highest award — the A.T. Still Medallion of Honor.
Judith says the biggest accomplishment of her career came in 1994 when she led the American Osteopathic Association delegation to successfully advocate for the inclusion of osteopathic manipulative treatment codes in the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology code set. This preserved the ability of osteopathic physicians to provide osteopathic manipulative care.
Among the recipients of The Contemporary Dayton's first Dayton Art Champion awards will be longtime Dayton Daily News columnist and reporter Meredith Moss Levinson. She'll
receive her award on Friday, Feb. 14 in The Tank at the Dayton Arcade just before the start of The Contemporary's annual Prelude fundraiser.
Courtney Cummings, founder and owner of The Stylish Organizer, contributed to an article at CNN Underscored online about how to choose the best clothing hangers for a tidy closet.
The Max & Lydia May Memorial Holocaust Art & Writing Contest has put out its 2025 call for submissions. Each year, students in grades five through 12 attending public, parochial, or homeschool in the Miami Valley are invited to submit their entries.
The annual contest is named after the grandparents of Renate Frydman, director of the Dayton Holocaust Resource Center.
This year’s theme is: Eighty years after the Holocaust, the Second Generation shares the history of their families. Never again, never forget! The submission deadline is March 28. Winners will be honored at the Dayton Area Yom Hashoah Observance, April 27 at Beth Abraham Synagogue. For contest entry forms, go to daytonholocaust.org or jewishdayton.org.
Send your Mazel Tov announcements to mweiss@jfgd. net.
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
Yellow Springs Havurah Independent Antioch College Rockford Chapel. 1st & 3rd Saturday each month. Contact Len Kramer, 937-5724840 or len2654@gmail.com.
Redemption of captives: a supreme Jewish value
By Rabbi Judy Chessin Temple Beth Or
It has now been a year since Israel executed Operation Golden Hand, Mivtza Yad Zahav, Feb. 12, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza, successfully rescuing Fernando Simon Marman and Luis Har, Israeli Argentinian hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak.
The rescue was aptly named, for Judaism has a long history of paying for hostages with both blood and treasure.
Amalekites attacked King David's early home base of Ziklag. They carried off all the women and children, including David's wives — Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel — as captives.
Upon returning to Ziklag, David and his men, overcome with grief, wept ceaselessly. Despite David's renown for military prowess, he yet consulted the Divine, and only with God's assurance did the king mount a successful military campaign to liberate his people and family.
Jewish tradition places immense value in the redemption
Perspectives
of captives, viewing pidyon shvuyim as one of the greatest mitzvot (commandments).
Our biblical patriarch Abraham faced a hostage situation when four kings carried off his nephew Lot. Abraham responded militarily, gathering his household to chase and defeat the four kings and rescue Lot.
Thus, Gen. 14 reports the first time captives were freed in the recorded history of the Jewish nation.
Redeeming the captive is a recurring theme in the Torah. When members of the desert generation were taken captive by the king of Arad, the nation quickly mobilized to return them.
A later rabbinic commentary derived from Hebrew grammar states that it was merely one maidservant who was taken hostage, yet even for a single marginalized slave, the entire community's resources were expended.
In the Book of Kings, the
Shabbat Candle Lightings
February 7: 5:46 p.m.
February 14: 5:54 p.m.
February 21: 6:02 p.m.
February 28: 6:10 p.m.
Due to our history as a nation once redeemed from captivity and slavery in Egypt, freeing captives from captors was considered a supreme moral value in the development of Judaism.
Hostage-taking was such a grievous sin that one of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not steal," was interpreted by our rabbis to refer to kidnapping. Stealing people and selling them was considered a capital crime.
And yet, the same rabbis of the Talmud expressed reservations about the cost of redeeming captives.
One Jewish luminary, Meir of Rothenburg, the Maharam, exemplified this concern. Born in Germany in 1220, the Maharam was the main rabbinic authority of Ashkenazic Jewry.
The law at that time forbade Jews from leaving German borders. Yet Rabbi Meir believed that every Jew must try to reach the holy land. Setting out on a difficult journey to reach Israel, he was caught in Italy and handed over to German authorities.
Conflicting opinions as to what fulfilling the Jewish mitzvah pidyon shvuyim means in modern society have strongly divided both Israel and world Jewry.
With no Divine assurances, the rabbis of the Mishnah warned Jewish communities not to ransom hostages for "more than their worth" to discourage further hostage-taking.
This dilemma, balancing the burning emotional desire for hostage return against the cost to future communal safety, was and is still a conundrum.
February • Shevat
The Maharam of Rothenburg was imprisoned, and the German rulers demanded an exorbitant sum for his release. The great rabbi commanded the community not to pay the ransom. He preferred to die in prison — as he did seven years later — rather than put others at risk, impoverishing his community, and encouraging future kidnappings.
After his death, having left behind brilliant commentaries that he wrote in prison, the German authorities would still not release his body to be buried. It was 14 years after
Torah Portions
February 1: Bo (Ex. 10:1-13:16)
Tu B’Shevat
New Year for Trees
February 13/15 Shevat Marks springtime in Israel. Celebrated with picnics, fruit, and planting trees.
February 8: Beshalach (Ex. 13:17-17:16)
February 15: Yitro (Ex. 18:1-20:23)
February 22: Mishpatim (Ex. 21:1-24:18)
the Maharam’s death that a wealthy Jew, Alexander Ziskind Wimpen, paid an exorbitant sum and buried the rabbi next to his own burial plot in Worms.
Such impossible choices have been operative since the Oct. 7 pogrom, during which Hamas kidnapped 251 innocent Israelis — men, women, and children.
By now, that number has dwindled to 94, some by death, a few by release or rescue, but the ancient dilemmas around rescue and redemption arise yet again.
Conflicting opinions as to what fulfilling the Jewish mitzvah pidyon shvuyim means in modern society have strongly divided both Israel and world Jewry.
Concerns about incentivizing future hostage-taking are not financial in nature; they are matters of security and military deterrence. Well do we remember Israel's controversial deal with Hamas that secured the release of hostage Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 2006.
In exchange for releasing the single soldier, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. That exchange, in fact, returned to the street Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacres, as well as 280 terrorists who were serving life sentences for implementing terror attacks posing a direct threat to Israel's security.
It incentivizes future hostage-taking and threatens national security, and makes concessions to Hamas, the very terror organization that Israel has vowed to eliminate after the Oct. 7 massacre.
Yet weekly, demonstrators and families of hostages gather Continued on Page 19
Rabbi Judy Chessin
Screenshot
Hamas terrorists hand over Doron Steinbrecher to the International Committee of the Red Cross during the hostage-prisoner exchange operation in Gaza City, Jan. 19.
By Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA
In Jami Attenberg’s 2013
novel The Middlesteins, there’s a chapter about a joint bar and bat mitzvah told entirely from the perspective of the parents’ friends. So indistinguishable are these Cohns, Grodsteins, Weinmans and Frankens that the chapter is narrated in the first-person plural.
“We were at the age where we had almost been forgotten but were not quite old enough to be heralded for still being alive after all these years,” they explain. “Of course we were seated together at the reception, the eight of us.”
When I first read The Middlesteins, I was close to the age of the parents, and I thought it was the most depressing description of the disappearing act of encroaching age that I had ever read. And it only gets worse. During the reception, the couples limit themselves to one quick dance. Otherwise:
"(W)e checked our watches, and thought about the errands we needed to run the next day, the walk we would take in the sunshine, the phone calls we would make to our children, some of whom lived in other states, with grandchildren we missed terribly. We had only been there for two hours, but it was already starting to feel late."
I’d like to say that after reading the book I vowed never to become “those people.” Or that I promised myself I’d be, if not the “bride at every wedding” (as Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Continued from Page 18
for rallies all throughout Israel, tearfully demanding swift action for their loved ones' release and protesting the government for perceived delays and hesitations in negotiation.
They argue that Israel is refusing to end the torture of its citizens and the heartbreak of the surviving family members in a cynical power play.
Moreover, the modern state needs to maintain the motivation of its troops and citizens with the assurance that the Jewish state will do everything possible to ensure their release if they are ever captured.
Finally, the Jewish state must emphasize the sanctity of every Jewish life when our enemy's goal is to end Jewish life. That, indeed, is the very mission of the Jewish state.
When a Talmudic debate could not be definitively resolved, the phrase "Eilu v'eilu divrei Elokim chayim" was employed: "These and those are the words of the living God
Dreading weddings? Shake it off and dance.
once described her narcissistic father, Teddy), then the kind of guest my hosts wouldn’t regret inviting.
Instead, for perhaps a decade I was exactly those people. I treated weddings and b’nai mitzvah as chores. I complained that the music was too loud. I spent way too much time in the hallways. I calculated how soon I could leave without seeming rude.
The Talmud says rejoicing with the bride and groom is a mitzvah
And then, over the past two years, more and more of my friends’ kids started marrying, and I decided I wasn’t ready to fade into the not-so-good night of the “parents’ friends table.”
At the next wedding, instead of trying to make myself heard
(Eruvin 13b)," meaning both sides are valid expressions of the Divine truth.
We yearn for the days when we could receive assurances from the Divine or could depend upon Solomonic wisdom to see our way through.
The verse in Malachi 3:3 states that "God will sit as a refiner of silver. The Levites will be refined like gold and silver."
To derive meaning from this verse, a rabbi once went to a goldsmith and watched the refining process.
The goldsmith held a golden nugget over the fire and placed it where the flames were the hottest to burn away impurities. The technician explained that he had to hold the material in the fire and watch it carefully lest it be in the flame too long and become destroyed.
The rabbi then asked when you know when the gold is fully refined, and the master answered, "When I can see my face in it."
Our hostages, our politi-
over the din of Mr. Brightside, I pulled my wife onto the dance floor. And stayed there. I have maybe three moves, and I used them all, again and again. This time I did make a vow: that I’d stay on my two left feet until the band packed up their instruments.
I’ve stuck with it. You might credit my transformation to the pandemic, and probably should. After two-plus years in lockdown, I joined others in “letting life out of the box,” as the poet Tony Hoagland puts it.
I also had Jewish guilt — even law! — as a goad. The Talmud, in Brachot 6b, says rejoicing with the bride and groom — simchat chatan v’kallah
cians, our soldiers, and our diplomats have all been tried by fire since Oct. 7, 2023, as they seek the balance of redeeming and rescuing our hostages while not jeopardizing the safety of the Jewish state and the Jewish people.
And now, a fragile hostage deal has been reached. It has been greeted in Israel and abroad with a mix of joy, anger, relief, and disappointment. Israelis remain committed to two mutually exclusive truths: "We must bring our hostages home," and "We must defeat Hamas."
We pray if not for another Operation Golden Hand, at least the golden opportunity to bring back our remaining 94 hostages in a not too costly way for our people.
May the crucible of this war define us as a people and refine us to see, and to address the needs of every suffering soul. May we merit the honor of fulfilling the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim soon and in our time.
Hitler’s grave.” She continues: “For every generation, weddings are a glimpse into the future, a repudiation of past griefs, and a celebration of the here and now.”
I’ve also learned a secret over these past few years. As dumb as you might feel clomping around in a circle while holding hands with a sweaty neighbor (Jews call this “dancing”), others find it admirable. I’ve had a few people, including brides and grooms, come up to us at the end of weddings and compliment us for having closed down the dance floor.
– is a mitzvah, meaning a commandment, and no mere good deed.
And 2,000 years ago, the rabbis anticipated the selfconsciousness of graceless middle-aged men. If you are worried about making a fool of yourself on the dance floor, remember the story of the great scholar Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Isaac, who would juggle myrtle twigs before the bride (Ketubot 17a). When Shmuel’s colleague Rabbi Zeira said such antics were beneath him, Shmuel squirted him with a seltzer bottle. (OK, not really, but the same passage goes on immediately to explain that not only did Shmuel not demean himself or Torah, but that when he died he was blessed with an extremely rare send-off of divine fire.)
And ultimately, I have Jewish history as inspiration. In her classic guide, The Jewish Wedding, Anita Diamant quotes a saying she attributes to Holocaust survivors: “To dance at a Jewish wedding is to dance on
I mean no disrespect to people who either can’t or don’t wanna dance with somebody. Shake it off, shut up, and dance or celebrate good times, "come on." Your hosts really don’t mind. And I’ll tell you how I know this: Last Sunday we celebrated the wedding of my middle child to a brilliant, kind, and beautiful woman whose smile is as radiant as his. The music was loud. The dance floor was packed. I was where I needed to be. And my pounding heart grew big enough to cherish everyone in the room, whether they were getting down or sitting it out. Because when it comes to celebrating a young couple’s love amid a cloudy here and now, I’m Mr. Brightside.
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Why the bride circles her groom in a Jewish wedding
By Rabbi Stuart Halpern Jewish Journal (Los Angeles)
It’s one of the most recognized rituals of a Jewish wedding — and it’s long been stoked with controversy. Under the wedding canopy, the bride circles the groom seven times. Why seven — and why even do this at all?
As Rabbi Zvi Ron notes in his fascinating new book, Jewish Customs: Exploring Common and Uncommon Minhagim, the earliest source to mention this practice is the Torah commentary by Dosa the Greek composed in 1430.
Dosa recounts that in Austria he had been at a wedding at which the bride circled the groom three times (not seven).
When asked why it was done, he was told it was based on Jeremiah 31:21’s prophetic vision of a redemptive time in which the relationship of God and the Jewish people will be repaired: “How long will you wander, unfaithful Daughter Israel? The Lord will create a new thing on earth — the woman will return to/encircle
the man.”
Uncommon at the time and unmentioned in the major books of customs from that era, the custom seems to have subsequently spread from Austria. Supplemental understandings of its symbolism swiftly followed.
Since the context in Jeremiah’s prophecy was of the messianic era, weddings in which it is invoked came to be seen as auspiciously associated with the hastening of the ultimate redemption.
Other scholars noted a textual allusion that precedes Jeremiah. The Torah uses the expression “When a man marries a woman” three times in Deuteronomy: 22:13, 24:1, and 24:5.
Also, Hosea has three mentions of betrothal in 2:21–22’s, “And I will betroth you forever, I will betroth you with righteousness and justice, and with goodness and mercy; And I will betroth you with faithfulness, then you shall be devoted to the Lord.”
In the mid-to-late 1800s
and early 1900s, commentators added that the circles symbolize the three camps that surrounded the Ark of the Covenant in the wilderness: those of the Priests, Levites, and Israelites, or the layers of darkness, cloud, and fog that surrounded the Divine Presence amid that arduous journey.
The 20th century has brought its own theories.
Joshua Trachtenberg, in his classic Jewish Magic and Superstition, noted that the Talmud records “Three people require guarding: A sick person, a groom, and a bride.” Rashi explains that protection is needed from evil spirits. Trachtenberg therefore suggests the circling “was probably originally intended to keep off the demons” thought to attack in vulnerable moments, by constructing a protective barrier.
The shift from three to seven seems to have emerged as a folk custom in the late 19th century.
Even then it was not immediately prevalent. Ron quotes Yitzhak Zvi Levovitch, who reported that in 1930s Hungary the custom was still to circle three times.
Once seven became the predominant number, the circles came to represent the seven days of the week (in which case the bride was understood on some level to represent Shabbat).
Alternatively, it corresponds to the seven times the word kol, voice, is mentioned in Psalm 29, which concludes with a statement that can serve as a blessing to the newlyweds, “The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.”
Yona Metzger, in his book In the Circles of Life, offers a psychological take. He explains that the bride circles the groom seven times in order to break down the barriers between them, as with the walls of Jericho that came down in the Book of Joshua after seven circles were made around them by the Israelites entering the Promised Land.
Ultimately, Ron concludes that the numeric increase emerged from another instance of joyous circling — that of Sukkot and Simchat Torah.
The Mishnah in Tractate Sukkah reports that in the Temple’s time, the altar was circled seven times on Sukkot’s last day, Hoshana Rabba. This was replicated in synaContinued on Page 21
Erin Sullivan/Getty Images
A bride and groom marry under a chupah, a wedding canopy.
I don’t like my friend’s boyfriend. Must I invite him to my wedding?
By Mira Fox,
The Forward
The advice column, A Bintel Brief, Yiddish for A Bundle of Letters, has solved Forward readers' dilemmas since 1906.
Dear Bintel,
My partner and I are planning our upcoming nuptials and that, of course, means a guest list. Our plan is to have a rather intimate wedding with those who mean the most to us, as we think this will be more fun and a way to save money.
On the list is one of my good friends, who is in a semi-rocky relationship with a guy we’d rather not invite.
I’m not a fan of how he treats her (or her dog). In the two years they’ve been together, while I’ve seen her, I have only interacted with him a handful of times, the last of which was over a year ago. So they don’t always socialize together. My fiancé has also never met him — or her, for that matter.
Not inviting her is not an option. But we’d like to give his seat to someone we really want to be there rather than this person we hardly know and do not like.
I know that according to
Continued from Page 20
gogues, following the Temple’s destruction, as a remembrance of the past.
Saadia Gaon reported a custom to circle the bima three times on each of Sukkot’s middle days, and seven on Hoshana Rabba.
Although this would universally shift to once a day during the middle days, there was, already in this context, three
social norms, if someone is in a long-term relationship, you’re supposed to invite them as a couple. Do we have to?
Signed, Baffled Bride
Dear Baffled,
Wedding guest lists are famously a source of stress: Kids or no kids? Who merits a plus-one? What manner of misbehavior results in being axed? So know you’re not alone.
Social norms, as you put it, are always evolving, and generally vary by community, so I don’t think there’s a clear etiquette answer for you.
And it’s your wedding; you can choose to invite who you want.
But remember: You also aren’t operating in a vacuum, and your decision will have an impact on your relationship with your friend.
The Torah includes a prohibition on onaat devarim, or wronging others through words. While the text focuses on monetary abuse, the sages of the Talmud expand it into a wide-ranging examination of interpersonal obligation: what we owe those with whom we
associated with seven.
The practice of circling seven times was carried over into Simchat Torah by Isaac Luria.
“It is not unusual that the circles made by the bride would shift from three to seven over time,” Ron concludes, “especially considering that seven was already a significant number in connection to weddings, with the seven blessings and seven days of celebration.”
are in community.
And one of the biggest prohibitions is on publicly embarrassing others. The Talmud says it is worse than committing adultery and even compares it to murder.
Regardless of whether you have a good excuse, the rabbis warn, it’s still forbidden to hurt or embarrass someone.
The Talmud uses a wide variety of examples, but I think the most relevant to your dilemma is not reminding someone about past transgressions, even if you think by doing so you will help them; besides, highlighting the boyfriend’s mistakes is probably not going to help your friend.
It would be one thing if you were not inviting anyone’s partners to keep numbers down.
But cutting out only this friend’s boyfriend will feel personal to her. And, let’s be honest — it is personal.
You may not like your friend’s choice, but it’s her choice. She’s an adult, and even if you disapprove of the relationship, it’s disrespectful to pass judgment on it in such a public way.
Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern is senior adviser to the provost of Yeshiva University and deputy director of Y.U.’s Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought.
Other guests would likely notice his absence, putting her in the awkward situation of having to explain your decision.
Or she might be hurt enough to choose not to attend, which could damage or destroy a longtime friendship.
So, instead of leaving him out, why not try to turn things around? Try to interact with him more before your wedding.
Maybe have the two of them over for Shabbat or ask for a double date. Bonus: Your fiancé will finally get to meet your friend. (You cite barely seeing the boyfriend as proof he’s unimportant, but your good friend has never met your
soon-to-be husband!)
And ask your friend more about what makes their relationship good. Maybe if you can understand his good side, you’ll feel better about having him at your wedding.
Jewish tradition also places a high value on the couple’s joy at their wedding, so you can make whatever decisions you want. You just can’t expect them to be consequence-free.
Might your guilt over insulting your friend — or the possibility of her skipping your happy day — be just as distracting as this man’s presence?
I’m not so sure that axing him from your guest list will bring you joy in the end.
Sacred Speech Series Speech traps
“Words spoken can never be taken back,” mused blogger Lilah Peck. “‘You have a huge nose!’ someone shouted at me in the first grade. I never noticed my nose before, but
Candace R. Kwiatek
suddenly every time I looked in the mirror, it was all 7-yearold me could see. Those five words manifested into a painful insecurity that took me years to shake. You never know how your words will impact
someone, or for how long.”
Peck’s story underscores recent discoveries in modern psychology and other fields indicating innate connections between words and emotions and how people view the world, including themselves.
While the studies are new, these connections were addressed more than 3,000 years ago by a pair of commandments in the Holiness Code of Leviticus.
The text reads, “When you sell property to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong (onaah) one another.”
This caution is echoed three verses later: “Do not wrong
(onaah) one another, but fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.”
Every word in the Torah is intentional and purposeful, and the use of onaah is a prime example.
According to biblical commentator Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch, the Hebrew root of onaah conveys a sense of “the exploitation of human weakness in order to victimize.”
In the first verse, exploitation occurs during commercial activity, by overcharging or underpaying, for example.
Exploitation in the second verse is described as taking place between people, but not in any particular setting.
The ancient sages of the Talmud concluded this wrongful behavior is onaat devarim, unrighteous speech, broadly defined as verbal harassment or mistreatment that causes emotional pain or distress.
Since the malicious intent of words is often hidden, a warning that implies God sees and knows everything is included in the text.
Comparing the two biblical verses highlights the greater severity of onaat devarim. Wrongful speech alone is followed by “fear your God.”
Verbal exploitation injures a person’s self-worth and even their soul, not just money or property. And verbal damage to one’s being cannot easily be remedied, while money or property can be restored.
Still, for reasons that include greed, a desire for power, and self-interest over empathy, many people deliberately engage in onaat devarim.
Furthermore, its invisible nature allows for plausible deniability, notes Rabbi Dena Weiss. She imagines likely internal monologues: “How will someone know if I’m in-
tentionally giving bad advice?” “Maybe I’m trying to be complimentary when I (mention how much weight someone lost) — I’m letting everyone know how far this person has come!”
Or, Weiss continues, there’s the "no offense" defense: “If a comment isn’t designed to be hurtful or isn’t obviously harmful, then it must be OK.”
It’s likely we’ve all heard the following justifications: “I didn’t mean anything by my comment!” “I meant it to be funny!”
It’s even possible to be unaware of committing onaat devarim. However, it’s the impact on the victim that counts, even if malicious intent was unintended, Weiss concludes.
With this in mind, it would be wise to follow the adage, “Think before you speak,” considering both one’s intentions and one’s choice of words so as not to intentionally or unintentionally cause negative emotions in someone.
Bean there, done that. Ari was looking forward to buying the espresso machine just discounted online but wanted to check it out before spending the hefty price. So he went to a nearby kitchenware retail store and spent time with a salesperson asking about its various features, comparing its cost to other models, and requesting a demonstration.
Satisfied, Ari thanked the salesperson and returned home, where he made his online purchase.
One may not deceive a merchant by asking the price of an item when one has no intention of buying or has no money.
Tormenting teasing. “Nice haircut—did you lose a bet?”
“Remember when you tripped in front of everyone at the party?
Verbal damage to one's being cannot easily be remidied
A biblical family affair. Widowed twice but bound by the law of levirate marriage to Judah’s youngest son, Tamar was deliberately prevented from marrying by Judah himself. When Tamar became pregnant years later, she was accused of adultery.
As she awaited execution, Tamar privately sent Judah the personal items he had left with her during an unwitting tryst. To avoid embarrassing him publicly, her accompanying message was cryptic, “By the man whose these are, I am with child.”
Anyone who verbally humiliates another in public, it is as if that person shed blood.
Literature to share
Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor’s Unlikely Adventure by Mimi Zieman. This improbable but oh-so-true memoir recounts the author’s audacious attempt to summit Mt. Everest by way of a new route on its formidable East Face, with no supplemental oxygen, sherpas, or possibility for rescue. Woven throughout are fascinating Jewish connections and personal insights.
Violin of Hope by Ella Schwartz. Inspired by true stories, this beautifully crafted picture book for elementary ages tells of a beloved violin stolen by the Nazis, discarded for decades, then rescued by a luthier — a person who makes stringed musical instruments — who repaired and restored it. He sold it to Isaac, a young boy who eventually became an accomplished violinist playing concerts all around the world. Author’s notes about Jews and violins, Nazi looting, luthiers, and the Violins of Hope project add even more depth to an already splendid story.
Classic you!”
“I've lost your passport. Only joking!” Dictionary. com defines the word tease as, "to make fun of or attempt to provoke in a playful or good-natured way.” However, searches for synonyms reveal negative ones — annoy, mock, ridicule, provoke, goad, and put down — vastly outnumbering positive ones.
There is a fine line between playful teasing and tormenting, clarified by Rashi: It is forbidden to yaknit — tease a person, making them feel anguish by saying something that will distress them.
Nicknames. Growing up in a neighborhood filled with kids around my age, it was inevitable that we’d all acquire nicknames. George was dubbed Georgie-porgie, a dubious but memorable moniker. He seemed unaffected by the title, but who knows?
Based on my surname, I was tagged with the seemingly innocuous “Kibbel-kid.” But every time I heard it, I cringed, visualizing the dry pellets of dog food known as kibble.
You may not use a derogatory nickname or any other embarrassing name, even if the person is used to it.
To protect it from misuse, God designed the tongue with two gates to guard it: teeth and lips, explains Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis.
“Before we use our tongues, we should…carefully consider whether we should allow our tongues to speak or whether it would be wiser to remain silent and keep the gates closed.”
This Libyan stew is so good my family fights over it.
By Brad Mahlof, The Nosher
If you’re looking for the ultimate stew, then you must try t’becha. This traditional Libyan Jewish stew means “cooked” in Arabic. T'becha is traditionally served for Shabbat dinners and the Jewish holidays.
When I was growing up, my three siblings and I would literally fight over who got to be the first one to serve ourselves t’becha — yes it’s really that good.
As the oldest sibling, I always got first dibs (except on their birthdays, when they had the once-a-year honor of being served first).
Being first meant finding the best marrow bone (the one with the most marrow meat inside) and getting to the pot before everyone else made chop suey of it.
There are countless versions of t’bechot, but all are generally savory, spicy, and packed with flavor, and often include meat, potatoes, and legumes.
Seasonings for t’becha can vary but often include baharat, a savory and fragrant Middle Eastern spice blend.
Baharat blends do vary from region to region, but always include earthy spices such as cumin, coriander, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, paprika, and cinnamon.
still be delicious.
Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
Yield: Serves 8
4–5 lbs. bone-in flanken stew meat, at room temperature neutral oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 sweet potatoes, uniformly sized and shaped, peeled and cut into roughly 2-inch slices
3–4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, halved and sliced into roughly 2½-inch slices frozen peas (13 oz. bag), defrosted fresh string beans (as many as you like)
I’m excited to share the recipe for my favorite version of t’becha, which is tomatobased with flanken-style short-ribs, peas, string beans, and potatoes. The short ribs are melt-in-your-mouth tender and seriously addictive.
As with most Libyan foods, make sure to enjoy with fresh couscous for the most authentic experience.
Notes: You need primegrade/well-marbled pieces of meat. I ask my butcher to cut it into 1½-inch-thick cubes. You can also sub out some of the beef for lamb stew meat.
If you do not have baharat, you can easily find a recipe online to create your own spice blend or, in a pinch can substitute ras al hanout. This will alter the taste profile but will
Pat room-temperature beef dry and salt on all sides. Heat a large stock pot or Dutch oven and, working in batches, as needed, add a neutral oil and brown meat well on all sides (about three minutes per side). Transfer the beef to a plate.
Add the onion to the pot and sauté until soft and translucent (about three minutes). Add a half teaspoon of kosher salt. Return beef to the pot in a uniform layer, and add just enough water to completely cover your meat (about 5 cups). Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes.
While the meat is simmering, prepare your sauce mixture. In a mixing bowl, add a can of tomato paste, baharat, spicy paprika, sweet paprika, 1½ tablespoons salt, cinnamon and chicken consommé. Mix the spice mixture with 1½ cups water to create a watery paste. Add the sauce into the pot. Let it cook for about 10 minutes.
Add potatoes, sweet potatoes, marrow bones (optional) and the peas. There should be enough liquid in the stew to almost cover all the ingredients, but it’s OK if the tops of the potatoes are not fully covered. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer the stew for about one hour. I use the lid to half cover the pot.
Add string beans to the top of the stew. Sprinkle a generous pinch of salt and baharat on top of the string beans and let the stew simmer for about another hour to 90 minutes. Serve over fresh couscous and enjoy.
T’becha Afuna
Brad Mahlof
Saturday, February 1
6:00 p.m. at Temple Beth Or “Who Knows One?” Live
It’s not who you know, it’s who [who you know] knows! It’s not just a show—it’s an experience! Join Micah Hart for his interactive sensation where Jewish Geography meets laugh-out-loud games and stories. Visit whoknows1.com for a sneak peek!
Tickets:
$25 per person... Your payment secures your reservation. Includes dinner and 1 drink.
Additional drink tickets: $5
Super Bowl Watch Party
Sunday Feb. 9
6:30 til the game is over
Come watch the big game with friends and family. Bring your favorite game day snack and beverage. Make sure to wear your team colors for a best dressed contest.
Winner gets $50.
Temple will provide Pizza
Arts&Culture
Young, Chasidic, gay.
In her memoir, Sara Glass explains how she broke away to find her true self
By Charlotte Henry Jewish News (United Kingdom)
Speaking to Dr. Sara Glass now, it is hard to believe she is the same person as the one at the start of her memoir, Kissing Girls on Shabbat
That Chasidic girl — and she was only a girl — endured her wedding night with a strictly Orthodox man she barely knew. She was young, frightened, and seemingly broken. Today, Sara is engaged and open, with long, sweeping blonde hair and tattoos.
The way she got to this point is a difficult read, a tale of deep love and profound loss, but Sara “wanted to tell this story because I know that this is still happening.”
By “this,” she means arranged marriages and young people hiding their sexuality and abuse.
Indeed, even the now out and proud qualified psychotherapist confesses to still having nerves about sharing her story detailing how a Chasidic woman came to terms with being gay and left her community and her family.
“For my entire life, any time I tried to be a version of myself that was more true, I lost people. I lost relationships,” she explains. “Now, I’m out of the closet, I live in Manhattan. Everyone knows I’m a lesbian. But the fear is still in my bones. And a part of me still thinks that when I say this extra detail, that’s when everything will come crashing down.”
The JCC Cultural Arts & Book Series in partnership with the Greater Dayton LGBT Center and Jewish Family Services presents author Sara Glass via Zoom, 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 2. Register for the free program at jewishdayton.org/events.
Losing her relationship with her sisters seems to be what she finds most upsetting. The book reveals that “those were the people who raised me,” but they “live in a world where it’s not safe for them to have a queer sibling.”
Sara confides: “I really do miss them. A part of me still hopes they’ll read the book and that maybe they’ll call me or something and just say ‘we support
Sara Glass, author of Kissing Girls on Shabbat, doesn't feel torn about her decision.
you.’” Despite this loss, Sara confirms she doesn’t feel torn about her decision.
“I feel sad, I feel mournful, but I wouldn’t do it any differently.” It’s a striking sentiment and clearly it's taken a long time to get to this stage.
Most tragic of all, one of her sisters, Shani, suffered from bipolar disorder and took her own life. It was this experience, alongside her mother’s struggles with mental health, that inspired her future career even while she was still in her old life.
She had to negotiate continuing her studies with her husband, who says he may not have married her had she told him her plans.
Sara is still in touch with her brother-in-law and his children, but says she struggled to read the section of her book dealing with Shani’s death when recording her audiobook. She checks in periodically to see if anyone has been born or died and does have some contact with her father.
she did?
“I do see some movement in the Orthodox community, especially in Modern Orthodoxy,” says the self-described optimist. She also outlines that the Conservative and Reform branches of Judaism are “already inviting me to lecture at their temples” about her book and says: “They’re so queer-friendly and inclusive.”
She rejects the idea that progress and acceptance is simply people going "woke."
“Sometimes when people are afraid of change, they’ll throw change under a label like 'woke' and call that label bad. And that’s just a manifestation of fear.”
Sara tries to put her experience to practical use. She serves as the clinical supervisor for Jewish Queer Youth, an organization that has drop-in centers where those going through some of the issues she did can come to enjoy kosher pizza with others like them. Technology is changing things, too.
Sara herself did not watch television until she was 24, but believes the greater access to the Internet that is possible today can help those in even the most closed-off communities.
“The world can be underneath their mattress on a tiny, tiny screen connected to the neighbor’s Wi-Fi.”
'For my entire life, any time I tried to be a version of myself that was more true, I lost people.'
There will always be holdouts in the most stringent of Jewish religious communities, but is there any hope for the future that more gay girls and boys growing up in some Orthodox communities will not have to go through what
Jewish religious teachings on homosexuality have not changed, though, and Sara believes that even if this pushes some out of the community, the strictly Orthodox “can survive because they procreate at such an astonishing rate.” However, she hopes “they will be compelled to shift their views.”
Despite her traumatic younger experiences, Sara has not renounced her Judaism. Her children go to what she describes as a pluralistic Jewish school and she still has Shabbat dinner in her home.
Speaking to the current version of Dr. Sara Glass, it's hard not to be moved by both what she's lost and what she's gained. Most of all, though, you can’t help but worry how many versions of the girl in the opening chapter are still out there.
When the Jews were forced out of Spain
A trip to Granada, Spain nine years ago led Eric Z. Weintraub to write the historical fiction novel South of Sepharad: The 1492 Jewish Expulsion From Spain. Weintraub hadn't heard of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain until he went on that trip. When he dug into research on King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's Alhambra Decree — which declared that all of Spain's Jews convert to Catholicism or leave Spain within three months — Weintraub found few novels about the expulsion. "This inspired me to write the book I wanted to read," he explained. South of Sepharad is the story of a Jewish physician who lives in Granada in 1492 and his family's attempt to flee Spain at the beginning of the Inquisition. Weintraub will talk about South of Sepharad via Zoom as part of the JCC's Cultural Arts & Book Series at 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 16. The free program is presented in partnership with the JCC Book Club. Register for the program at jewishdayton.org/events. — Marshall Weiss
Eric Z. Weintraub
Sara Glass on her wedding day.
A DOUBLE MITZVAH.
• anks to a generous anonymous donor, your gi — or additional gi — to Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton will be matched, dollar for dollar.
• It’s a double mitzvah: the cemeteries of Beth Abraham Synagogue, Beth Jacob Congregation, and Temple Israel will combine into a single nonpro t. is ensures their sanctity in perpetuity, and strengthens each congregation’s nancial security.
• Contact Kate Elder at kelder@jfgd.net now for details and to make your pledge.
Barry A. Greenberg, 73 of Dayton, passed away Dec. 25. Barry was a 1969 graduate of Meadowdale High School. He was a partner of m.l. dunn in Englewood. Barry was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Annabelle Greenberg. He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Murray and Tammy Greenberg of Englewood; two nephews, Zak (Amanda) Greenberg of Cincinnati and Cory (Katie) Greenberg of Englewood; great-nieces and nephews, Zoey, Jase, Luca and Riley; and his companion Debra Drumm and her children, Amber, Jackson, and Chase of Dayton. Interment was at Riverview Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Temple Israel or the charity of your choice.
It is with deep sorrow and profound gratitude for her life and gifts that we announce the passing of Phyllis Friedman Rosen, 91, on Jan. 13 in Houston, Texas. She was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on March 30, 1933 to the late George and Gertrude Friedman. Predeceased by her loving and devoted husband, Stanford “Shep” Rosen, she will rest for eternity at his side. Growing up in Brooklyn, Phyllis graduated from Hunter College in New York City, with an undergraduate degree and then from Brooklyn College with a master's degree in speech and audiology. She was among the first women to work in her field. She worked as an audiologist for Dayton Children's Hospital for many years and continued to work in private ENT practices until she retired at 80. While
in college, her brother introduced her to and then she later married the love of her life, Shep, and started her family. Later, for business reasons and following her parents, Phyllis and Shep relocated to Dayton, where they raised their children and became fixtures in the local Beth Abraham Synagogue community. Phyllis and Shep enjoyed matrimonial bliss for over 50 years until Shep passed in 2018.
Phyllis continued to reside in Dayton following the loss of Shep, until she was diagnosed with cancer, again. This time was different as she was advised by her doctors that she had six months to live. Phyllis then moved to Houston to reside with and have the support of Lori and Stephan Rubin. Those doctors were wrong — despite the odds. Phyllis’ boundless and intense love of life and people allowed her to not just live, but thrive, for more than three years following that seemingly fateful
Trump
diagnosis. Phyllis’ warm and infectious smile and demeanor brought her many new friends and opportunities in Houston that greatly enriched and extended her life. For example, Phyllis, together with her newly acquired best friend, Lori Jacobs, taught mah-jongg and canasta to hundreds of students at the local Jewish Community Center. She thoroughly, and without reservation, enjoyed theater, dining out, and parties. As she put it, she was "living her best life.”
Phyllis’ indomitable and seemingly undefeatable will to live enabled her to survive numerous health challenges during her lifetime including seven cancers, until she was confronted with the most recent reemergence of three new cancers. The family is grateful for the love and contributions by Phyllis’ caregivers at Seven Acres and Focused Care Westwood in Houston, as well as those caregivers who were there for her in Dayton. Interment was at Beth Abraham Cemetery.
Continued from Page 12
Moscow’s Red Square in 1968, said of his decision to do so: “All my conscious life I have wanted to be a citizen — that is, a person who proudly and calmly speaks his mind. For 10 minutes, I was a citizen.”
It is tempting, in the face of reports that Trump aspires to end birthright citizenship with the flick of a pen, to throw up one’s hands and pronounce that nothing matters.
have inalienable rights. Maybe our government wants to wish those away, but we shouldn’t let it.
After all, if Alexander Esenin-Volpin could remember that they mattered in the 1950s in the Soviet Union, then maybe we can remember it today — and tomorrow, and for the next four years — too. Perhaps, for more than 10 minutes, we too can be citizens.
But some things do still matter, don’t they? We do still have a constitution, and we do still
Emily Tamkin is a global affairs journalist and author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, January 30 at 7 PM via Zoom — enjoy from the comfort of your home! No Cost
David S. Tatel, VISION: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice
David S. Tatel is an American judge who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit deciding many landmark cases. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, Tatel has a reputation for his expertise in administrative law and his commitment to civil rights, voting rights, and environmental law. Before his judicial appointment, he was a law professor and also worked in various legal and public service roles. For 50 of his over 80 years, he has been blind as a result of retinitis pigmentosa. Through the miracle of technology and, lately his canine companion Vixen, he has been able to navigate his blindness and accept it.
Sunday, February 2 at 7 PM via Zoom — enjoy from the comfort of your home! No Cost.
Sara Glass, Kissing Girls on Shabbat
Sara Glass, who grew up in the Chasidic community of Borough Park, Brooklyn, was well aware of what her community’s expectations of her were. She acquiesced to an arranged marriage in which she felt no love and then realized she had an attraction to women. She was forced to battle for custody of her children, married again, and su ered a tragic sexual assault. She survived these horrific experiences, earned a Ph.D., and now writes, speaks, and counsels many who have su ered various traumas in their lives. All of these life experiences finally gave her the courage to live her true life.
Sunday, February 16 at 7 PM via Zoom — enjoy from the comfort of your home! No Cost.
Eric Z. Weintraub, South of Sepharad: The 1492 Jewish Expulsion from Spain
It is 1492 in Granada, Spain. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand had just signed the Alhambra Decree which ordered all Jews to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain within three months. Painful decisions had to be made. Vidal ha-Rofeh, a Jewish physician wants to go into exile. His wife, on the other hand, believes they should convert to Catholicism. To add to the chaotic situation, their daughter, who is married to a Catholic, is a converso who stays in Spain subject to the inquisition. Vidal is conflicted and feels it is his duty to care for the sick on the journey into exile, while at the same time he wishes to mend relationships with his family.
Sunday, March 9 at 4PM
Beth Abraham Synagogue
305 Sugar Camp Circle, Oakwood, 45409 Cost: $10
FEATURING a sampling of the authors’ recipes Books available for purchase and book signing at event
Rachel Gordin Barnett & Lyssa Kligman Harvey, Kugels and Collards: Stories of Food, Family, and Tradition in Jewish South Carolina
This is a unique and heartwarming exploration of the intertwined culinary and cultural traditions of African American and Jewish communities in the American South. The book is a collection of stories and recipes that highlight the rich, shared history and mutual influences between these two groups. Harvey and Barnett delve into personal anecdotes and family histories, showcasing how food serves as a bridge between cultures. From traditional Jewish dishes like kugel to southern staples like collard greens, the book celebrates the fusion of flavors and traditions, emphasizing the themes of resilience, community, and the deep connections forged through shared meals and experiences. Through this lens, Kugels and Collards o ers readers a profound understanding of the complex and enriching tapestry of southern Jewish and African American life.
