The Dayton Jewish Observer, September 2024 by The Dayton Jewish Observer

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Tour of Holocaust exhibit honors 25 years at Air Force Museum

Renate Frydman, founder and curator of Prejudice & Memory: A Holocaust Exhibit, will lead a tour of the exhibit at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 10 to commemorate its 25th anniversary on permanent display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

The tour is presented by the JCC's adult programming department in partnership with the adult education and programming committees of Beth Abraham Synagogue, Beth Jacob Congregation, Temple Beth Or, and Temple Israel.

Frydman, chair of the Dayton Holocaust Education Committee, originally designed Prejudice & Memory as a mobile exhibit in 1997.

For more than a year, she had collected artifacts from local survivors, liberators, and rescuers. It was among the first exhibits in the United States to focus on local people's Holocaust experiences.

Prejudice & Memory had been on display at 10 sites across southwest Ohio when the late retired Maj. Gen. Charles D. Metcalf — then director of the Air Force Museum — invited

14-year-old Gertrude Wolff Kahn took with her when she was rescued from Nazi Germany through the Kindertransport program, and the violin her husband, Robert Kahn, was forced to play at age 15 on Kristallnacht as Nazis beat his father.

Frydman to display the exhibit there from February through September 1999.

Two weeks after the exhibit went on display at the Air Force Museum, Metcalf told Frydman the museum wanted to keep the exhibit there permanently.

The late Dave London, an Air Force Museum restoration volunteer, renovated Prejudice & Memory two years ago.

Artifacts on display include the Buchenwald concentration camp uniform of survivor Moritz Bomstein, the accordion

In the museum's World War II gallery is a French railroad car constructed in 1943. Millions of Holocaust victims were herded into this type of boxcar and sent to concentration camps. Allied prisoners of war were also transported to German POW camps in these boxcars, some even to Buchenwald concentration camp.

The railcar, part of the Prejudice and Memory tour, was airlifted to the Air Force Museum in 2001.

Admission to the Air Force Museum, the tour, and parking are free. The museum is located at 1100 Spaatz St., Fairborn. RSVP by Sept. 5 to jewishdayton.org/events or contact Stacy Emoff, semoff@jfgd.net, 937-610-5513. Emoff is also coordinating a pay-your-ownway lunch for participants after the tour at a nearby restaurant.

Talk about Dayton KKK in 1920s at UD

Bill Trollinger, professor of history and religious studies at the University of Dayton, will present the address, Terrorizing Catholics, Jews, and Immigrants: The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Dayton at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 5 at UD's Roger Glass Center for the Arts.

The director of the university's Core Integrated Studies Program, Trollinger has written extensively on the Klan.

color."

Trollinger added that in the 1920s, Dayton was one of the leading KKK strongholds in the United States. Dayton's Klan, he said, directed much of its hatred against the city’s Catholic population, including at the University of Dayton.

In the 1920s, an estimated 4 to 5 million Americans were members of the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan, Trollinger told The Observer

"In contrast with the postCivil War Klan, which was concentrated in the South, the 1920s KKK was a truly national organization, with particular strength in the Midwest and West," he noted.

"This Klan targeted Catholics, Jews, and immigrants, along with, as always, African Americans and other people of

He'll share stories of how UD students and its football team challenged the Klan, and how the school’s administration avoided confrontations and endured the Klan's terrorism in the 1920s as did several other Catholic universities across the United States.

The Klan attacks of the 1920s have all but disappeared from UD’s institutional memory, Trollinger said.

Following Trollinger's talk, Natalie Hudson, executive

director of UD's Human Rights Center, will moderate a roundtable discussion with civil rights leaders from across the state about the fight against hate in Ohio today. Discussion participants will be Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Kelly Fishman from Cleveland, Cincinnati NAACP President Joe Mallory, and Father Satish Joseph of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Dayton.

The program is hosted by UD's Alumni Chair in Humanities, Sam Dorf. Admission is free.

The Roger Glass Center for the Arts is located at 29 Creative Way, Dayton.

For more information, contact the center at 937-229-5000 or Dorf at sdorf1@udayton.edu.

Prof. Bill Trollinger

Renate Frydman, curator of Prejudice & Memory: A Holocaust Exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Hate on parade in Springfield

It's legal to openly carry guns in Ohio, individually or as a group. But what about aiming them at bystanders?

By Marshall Weiss, The Observer

Springfield Chief of Police Allison Elliott says her department was prepared for whatever might come its way on a hectic Saturday, Aug. 10.

"This is my community. I was born and raised here. I'm very passionate about it," Elliott says.

Bernie Moreno, Ohio's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, was scheduled to give a stump speech that morning in the parking lot of Mad River Armory and Range. He would talk about gun rights and how the influx of Haitian immigrants to Springfield under Temporary Protected Status has put "insane" strains on the city's infrastructure.

Moreno's staffers had asked for extraduty police officers to be present at his rally, Elliott says. They were concerned counterprotesters might show up.

That afternoon, from 1 to 5 p.m., families would head to the Summer Sky Festival put on by the Clark County Historical Society at its Heritage Center downtown. Springfield Kiwanis was hosting the second day of its Springfield Jazz & Blues Fest from 2:30 p.m. into the evening at Commons Park Plaza and Mother Stewart's Plaza in downtown's core block area. The weather was perfect.

hate group showed up.

"They went down to our core block area while those large events were going on," Elliott says. "They marched up to our City Hall area. There were some that were identified as holding rifles and they were obviously wearing masks." Some of them, she says, appeared to carry sidearms.

'There were some that were identified as holding rifles.'

With all the negative national media attention over the weeks before focused on Springfield's soaring Haitian population — much of it from Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance's stump speech references — Aug. 10 looked like a day for people there to take a breath. To just have fun.

And then a dozen members of the Blood Tribe

Ohio is an open carry state. The group's name, Blood Tribe, was emblazoned on the back of their red shirts. They carried two flags with swastikas, the symbol of Nazi Germany.

The police chief says a dozen Blood Tribe members showed up about 4:35 p.m., walked as a group in the core block area for about 85 minutes, and "were heading back out of the core block of the city" around 6 p.m.

Though The Observer asked Elliott repeatedly, she declined to say whether her department had any prior knowledge that members of Blood Tribe planned to show up and march.

Continued on Page Four

All these years later, she’s still the apple of my Oy.

From the editor’s desk

A year or so after I began working on , I couldn't decide whether I should publish a photo of a hate group rally in Cincinnati. I asked several members of our Jewish community what they thought. Some said that to publish such a photo would give the hate group the attention they craved. It would increase fear in the people the hate group wanted to frighten. Don't give them what they want.

When I asked Holocaust survivors, they urged me to run it. It's important that our readers see what's going on, to look at hate directly. We can't stand down hate if we don't look at it fully.

Rabbi Cary Kozberg, who leads Temple Sholom Columbus Jewish News that he spoke with Springfield Mayor Rob Rue after the Aug. 10 Blood Tribe march there. "He was very supportive, I think, for his comments and he shared that Springfield was going to be very watchful of these things," the rabbi told the CJN. "We have to be watchful and cautious and prepared for anything."

Menachem

Springfield

they had parked on High Street half a block from City Hall.

Continued from Page Three

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Pasha Grill

"We didn't get an application for a permit for a rally or a parade or anything like that," Elliott says. "Obviously, exercising your First Amendment right just to walk up the street and march up the street, you do not have to have a permit here in Springfield for that. Once they arrived to the city, we obviously had our plans in place from our increased staffing and following our action plans on how we handle situations like that that do arise."

Chelsea Shirk Weber says she was keenly aware of the police presence in Springfield that day. She and her husband brought their 4-year-old daughter downtown to take in the Summer Sky Festival and Jazz & Blues Fest.

"Being a mom, the first thing I look at is, OK, I take a picture of my kid and the clothes she's wearing that day, I check to see where are the exits, the safety, how many police officers are there," Weber, also a Springfield native, says.

"At the Summer Sky Festival, that we went to first, we only saw two officers for the entire event," Weber says. "But at Jazz Fest, I said to my husband, 'Wow, there's a lot of cops around here.' They were paired up, a lot of them walking around."

Weber says she's known Elliott her entire life. "She's going to do big things for Springfield," she says of the chief. "She has been the best thing for Springfield since she took over."

At 5 p.m., the Webers were walking back to their car, which

"My husband and I, we heard this loud noise and shouting," Weber says. "We were like, 'What the hell? What's going on?'"

Her husband said, "Get to the car now."

"Then I saw the group of them. Their red shirts, their masks, and the Nazi flag. And we got in the car."

Their daughter asked what was going on.

"Nothing. We're just trying to get home."

Who they are

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Blood Tribe is a neo-Nazi group with semi-autonomous chapters in the United States and Canada. It was formed online in 2021 and started showing up at antiLGBTQ+ events last year.

in Toledo, Ohio, July 15, 2023; in Orlando, Fla., Sept. 2, 2023; and in Madison, Wisc., Nov. 18, 2023.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Sept. 11, 2023 that Blood Tribe claimed it had started an Ohio chapter.

Elliott declined to share how closely her officers surveilled the Blood Tribe group during their march in Springfield.

"Obviously, this group is exercising their First Amendment, Second Amendment rights, but we also understand the potential for dangerous situations to occur, of course, in any potential for opposition at any event like that.

It champions "hard-line White supremacist views and openly directs its vitriol at Jews, 'non-Whites' and the LGBTQ+ community."

Approximately two dozen Blood Tribe members marched through downtown Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, Feb. 17, calling it a celebration of "the Great White South."

The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that Blood Tribe's founder, Christopher Alan Pohlhaus, has led members of the hate group on at least five other rallies: in Wadsworth, Ohio, March 11, 2023; in Columbus, Ohio, April 29, 2023;

"We had more officers throughout the area, just monitoring and then also monitoring the group to ensure that while they're going to exercise their First and Second Amendment rights, we also have an obligation and duty to protect the public and ensure no criminal activity is occurring and keeping people safe and trying to prevent any sort of negative interaction or significant event."

The chief says some people downtown made comments back as they drove past the Blood Tribe marchers.

"We did have some reports that they (Blood Tribe) were making statements initially about our Haitian community members," Elliott says. "That was obviously second-hand information."

The chief, who has since been in contact with the FBI, says her

Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss mweiss@jfgd.net 937-610-1555

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Rachel Haug Gilbert, Steven H. Solomon Observer Advisor Martin Gottlieb

Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Mary Rita Weissman President Dan Sweeny President Elect Marni Flagel Secretary Neil Friedman Treasurer Ben Mazer VP Personnel Teddy Goldenberg VP Resource Dev. Dr. Heath Gilbert Immediate Past Pres. Cathy Gardner CEO

The Dayton Jewish Observer, Vol. 28, No. 13. The Dayton Jewish Observer is published monthly by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, a nonprofit corporation, 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459.

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

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

Goals

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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.

Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott

officers did not observe Blood Tribe members breaking any laws Aug. 10 in Springfield.

"But I will tell you though, we do encourage the public, especially in any event — we're human too, and there may be some things that we missed — at any sort of operation or event, we do encourage the public if you see something, say something."

'They have four assault rifles pointed at the car'

When Weber's husband pulled their car out from its spot on High Street, they got stuck in traffic. Two cars were ahead of them at the red light at High and Fountain Avenue.

That's when the Blood Tribe marchers started crossing the street in front of them.

"While they were in the crossing, it was the guy in the suit who wasn't wearing a mask — he was leading them — and then there were four people standing on the street pointing their guns, saying, 'Go the f--- back to Africa,'" Weber says. "That's what they were shouting. Pointing the guns at the cars. At my car."

Her husband drove through the red light to get them to safety.

"I don't know what they're going to do," Weber says of the marchers. "They have four assault rifles pointed at the car. So we sped off and left."

Weber says she didn't see any police nearby when the neoNazis aimed their rifles at her family.

"I did not see a single police officer interact with them or stop or watch them. The only

THE REGION

person that was trying to stop them was a teenager boy on a skateboard. Because he followed them around."

She and her husband didn't contact the police. "We wanted to get out and head home."

Their daughter, Weber says, is traumatized.

"My daughter is asking, 'Why are there bad men with masks on, pointing guns at the car saying bad words?' Now she's getting into, 'What happens if there's a tornado? What happens if the house catches on fire?' All these bad situations because of the Nazis and them pointing their guns at my car."

field, Ohio - Government Facebook page read:

We want to inform you that a hate group from outside of our community made an appearance in the downtown core block today. Their presence is deeply concerning, and our public safety services took the necessary steps to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone in our community was maintained.

Weber was one of two people that day to post photos of the Blood Tribe marchers in Springfield on social media.

"I posted it on the bulletins in Springfield and Clark County Facebook pages," she says.

That photo is on the cover of this issue of The Observer.

"Well, my post blew up. Hundreds of people commented on it."

Weber wishes she had screenshot those posts. She says they were removed. She adds that people were commenting on it in favor of the hate group. Others said the photo she posted wasn't real.

"I got hundreds of comments. Mostly hate-filled. And then after they removed my post, about five minutes later, the City of Springfield government posted."

The post, at City of Spring-

Mayor Rob Rue commented on the situation stating, “There was an attempt to disrupt our community by an outside hate group. Nothing happened, except they expressed their First Amendment rights. Our Police Division was aware and in control the entire time.”

We stand united against hate and discrimination and remain committed to upholding the values of respect and inclusivity within our community. Let’s continue to support one another and uphold these values that define our community.

Thank you.

"It was just completely disappointing that the government said, 'Oh, they're just exercising their First Amendment right and they did no harm.' Tell that to my 4-year-old, who is completely traumatized. I'm 37 and I was scared s---less. How do you explain it to a 4-year-old?"

The Observer provided Police Chief Elliott with a transcript of Weber's interview. Despite repeated attempts to reach out to Elliott for a follow-up interview, she declined to comment.

Chelsea Shirk Weber

Kettering couple brought healing touch to Israel as volunteers this summer

An interview with pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Mike Bloom & educator Amy Bloom

By Marshall Weiss, The Observer

This summer, the Times of Israel reported that since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, approximately 400 physicians and 30 health professionals from the United States and other countries have volunteered in Israel to treat those injured in the war or to cover for Israeli doctors and medical staff called to active duty. One of these physicians was pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Mike Bloom of Kettering, July 1-15. He and his wife, Hillel Academy first- and second-grade secular teacher Amy Bloom, volunteered in and around Beersheba, the largest city in the Negev desert, in Israel's south. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did your volunteering come about?

Mike: I found out from a pediatric ophthalmologist, a friend of ours, through Seroka Medical Center in Beersheba. It was geared toward specific needs. With the universal healthcare system there, sometimes the state hospitals get backlogs of surgeries or cases or specific situations.

The ophthalmology department head reached out because he had a need, and it spread among all the Jewish pediatric ophthalmologists. We all forwarded it to our friends.

They ended up bringing in four of us, each on consecutive weeks, on two-week blocks. The last one, Retired U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Robert Ezenauer, he was my mentor. He’s not Jewish. He was friends with an Israeli pediatric ophthalmologist, found out about it, and "wanted to do a mitzvah" is what he said.

Was it hard to get away?

Mike: We have our own practice. Rob (his brother, Dr. Rob Bloom) covered the office for me to go there. He goes frequently enough on his own for some time. We’ve been to Israel many times over the last decade.

Amy went on a Momentum trip in January with her sister and Marci Vandersluis. When Amy came home, the first thing she said was, "Mike, we have to go back to Israel in the summer." I’m not really good with a hammer or picking fruit. I was thinking, how do we do this? And then that email showed up in my inbox a month after she said we have to go back.

Amy: Momentum is an organization that was started by a handful of women. It was meant for women with younger children to go back to their communities after they’ve gone on the trip and spread the word to their friends and advocate for Israel. But after Oct. 7, they pivoted and made trips geared for anybody who wanted to go and bear witness.

Where did you and Mike stay in Beersheba?

Amy: We found an AirBNB in Beersheba's Old City.

Mike, what procedures did you perform?

Mike: Their staffing was short either from reservist duty because of the war or other factors that played into a backlog in my area of expertise, which is strabismus surgery, which is crossed eyes and eye muscle surgeries. I was not taking care of the traumas. There was the ophthalmology team that would round on the soldiers. I made an effort during the first week of my stay to go round with that team. And it was very impactful. You see in the news how many people die in a particular day, but you don’t always think of the ones that were injured. And the ones that are permanently going to have to deal with the injuries they sustain.

The first patient I saw was probably in his young 20s and he was just a big, muscular kid. And he sustained such a bad brain injury, he was on a ventilator and permanent brain damage and will never be the same again. And then multiple blast injuries, foreign bodies in the eyes. One soldier had to have his eye removed from the trauma.

Have you done medical procedures in Israel before?

Mike: This was the first time. They assigned me to one of the residents, Mohammed Wattad, a second- to third-year resident, and he did all the translating, the charting. We would see patients together in the clinic, make the diagnosis, make the decisions on how to manage and treat them if they needed surgery. A lot of the patients were referred specifically by outside ophthalmologists and optometrists for the surgery.

Blooms in the desert: Dr. Mike and Amy Bloom in the Negev.

And then he would scrub in with me. When I went there, I thought this is going to be just like the States and we’re going to do a lot of surgery and we’re going to take care of all the backlog of all the cases and see all these patients, but the Israeli healthcare system is different from ours.

And so we definitely saw less patients and did less amount of cases than we would do here in my typical day. I kind of pivoted my mindset. A very rewarding part of the experience was the training of the residents. They got to scrub in and we were able to help with their training and their experience. It was just a win-win.

When you weren’t volunteering, what were you up to?

Mike: We rented a car, and Amy was a champ with this microcar on the streets of Beersheba, which was pretty incredible. She would drop me off in the morning, at 7:30-8 at the hospital.

Amy: The chief ophthalmologist who had arranged all of this in Beersheba, he and his wife live in a village near the West Bank. They have a school on-site and the school was having a summer camp. So he arranged for me to go there and I went for a few hours every day and tutored English. They were K through eighth grade. We’re going to try to do some kind of a communication between the Hillel kids and their kids where we write them in Hebrew, they write us in English.

When Mike would get off work, it

was really, really hot. Usually, we’d rest in the afternoon for a couple hours and then go out after the sun was starting to set a little bit and go out to dinner. We spent a Shabbat in Jerusalem and that was great. We spent a Shabbat lunch at the chief ophthalmologist's home. I went to Tel Aviv one day.

Mike: And Mohammed and another resident, Baker, he was Bedouin, he drove us in his souped-up SUV.

Amy: He took us to the sand dunes in the Negev. He gave us a whole Bedouin picnic after sundown.

Mike: Amy drove to Jerusalem for the day to visit the family (who lived in Dayton some years ago) whose 16-year-old son passed away (of natural causes). The Harels.

Amy: I saw them at the shiva.

Did you experience anything on the trip that you didn’t expect?

Mike: The resident assigned to me was Muslim, an Arab Israeli. And Baker, he’s really interested in pediatric ophthalmology. We were communicating about setting up future trips and getting him trained, as he has young children, and it would be difficult for him to be away from his family to come to the States and train.

I always knew that about 20 percent of the Israeli population was Arab. There’s Druze — it’s a melting pot. In Beersheba, in particular. When my resident would translate, English was probably the third language. There was

Them Home posters. She brought her daughter in for an eye exam. And she told the resident that she had one of those posters. She said, the resident translated back to me, that her brother was missing since Oct. 7th. And recently, security video had shown that he was killed and that his body had been taken. He had a job at one of the kibbutzes.

Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?

Hebrew, Arabic, English, and there’s a lot of Russian immigrants there. We had a Ukrainian-Russian population there, too. What was heartwarming, what felt really nice was it felt exactly like seeing patients in my office here in Dayton.

The staff is multicultural, the patients are multicultural. From the patients to the nurses to the doctors, everyone is just living their lives.

A lot of people have asked since I’ve come home, what was the political conversation? It was very little of that. It was all people trying to find a way to support their families, to better their lives, just like here. That was obvious from the get-go when we got there. It felt good. I was not expecting it to the extent that it was there.

A Muslim mom came into the hospital office, and she saw one of the Bring

Amy: The Israelis are so grateful to have visitors and volunteers. There are so many people walking around there to help, from a lot of farming, helping to pick crops, people helping put the kibbutzim back together, like Kibbutz Be’eri and Kfar Aza, and helping in general with anything they can.

It’s just an incredible experience to be there and not just sitting over here, helpless. The Israelis really feel that, and are grateful.

Mike: And the Israelis, they’re very in tune to the news in the media and how things are portrayed. They were just so thankful that an American Jew would come, or any American would come to Israel at this time.

They were so appreciative. They feel isolated. To go there and not only bear witness but to show our support at this time felt wonderful to us. Throughout the entire trip it was, "Thanks for coming. We appreciate your just being here."

Dr. Mike Bloom (Center) at Soroka Medical Center in July with Ophthalmology Chair Dr. Erez Tsumii (L) and medical resident Dr. Mohammed Wattad.

‘We recognize how much he cared.’

— Andrew, Becky & Ben Weprin with their father, Bart

In the ultimate act of tzedakah, Bart Weprin, of blessed memory, co-chaired the project to create the Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton while dying.

Always looking out for future generations of his family and community, he created an organization to preserve the dignity of our cemeteries in perpetuity. Consolidating the three Jewish cemeteries made sense to him practically. More importantly, it was a way to honor the memory of his adored parents and grandparents.

Leading by example, he showed his children, Ben, Andrew and Becky, the importance of caring for their hometown Jewish community. Now living out-of-town, they all contributed to the Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton campaign to honor their father and to preserve the dignity of his eternal home. And they hope their participation will inspire generations of Daytonians living around the country.

When Bart’s children visit Temple Israel’s beautiful cemetery, they feel a sense of connection with the generations that came before them which they now share with all of Bart’s grandchildren.

Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton is an endowment organization created to maintain our three Jewish cemeteries in perpetuity. Please join us as we strive to maintain the sanctity, care, and integrity of these sacred burial grounds.

Four days before nine Israeli Arab high school students from the Galilee and their chaperone were to arrive Aug. 9 for two weeks in Dayton, their trip was postponed until next year. With heightened tensions and threats of retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah after Israel's assassinations of top Hamas military and political leaders in July, Delta Airlines cancelled its flights in and out of Israel until September.

"The kids were booked on Delta," said Dr. Marti Moody Jacobs of Washington Township, who, since 2007 has facilitated eight such trips with Israeli Arab students from the Galilee. It's the culmination of a summer English language program for Israeli Arab students in the Galilee taught by Dayton-area volunteers on alternating years. The program is funded through private donations.

"I talked to Delta people for days, and they tried to be helpful and find other flights out, but there wasn't anything," Jacobs said. "A group of 10, it's hard to move them. I've texted all the students and they're all very gracious and excited to come next summer. And one of the girls said, 'Oh, don't feel too bad. Nobody can get out of the country now.'"

JTA has reported that United Airlines suspended service to Israel indefinitely and that American Airlines has also canceled its flights until April 2025.

The students live in the villages of Sakhnin and Kaukab. "None of them have been to the U.S. before," Jacobs said. "They don't have relatives in the U.S. They were very excited." Their itinerary included visits to essentially every site worth seeing in southwest Ohio, meetings with local social justice leaders and University of Dayton international students, producing and editing their own videos at DATV, a movement/acting class at the Human Race Theatre Company, a SWAT team demonstration, and a Dragons game.

"We do all these educational things, and they had a list of things they also wanted to do here: Five Guys, beach volleyball, a drive-in movie. Surfing, we told them no, they couldn't do that here. It's really sweet."

What to do with all the food Jacobs prepared for the guests, hosts, and other program volunteers?

"I cook a lot, and I now find myself with a freezer stuffed with food for the group that was coming in. So I’m changing the group's farewell dinner into a 'forward' dinner for everyone here involved with the program."

— Marshall Weiss

Israeli Arab students from the Galilee region take in a Dayton Dragons game during their two-week visit here in 2022.

Bonnie Kaplan

Dr. Marti Moody Jacobs

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Columbus JCC preschool teachers attempt to formally unionize

By Kaitlyn Finchler, Columbus Jewish News

A collective of preschool teachers at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus announced its intent to unionize June 5. Since then, they claim to have been met with “union-busting tactics” and a “combative” work environment, while Columbus JCC leaders express an interest in finding a solution beneficial for all, the Columbus Jewish News has been told.

Jennifer Steiner, a preschool teacher at the Columbus JCC for three years, said July 15 that talks of unionizing started prior to her hiring.

She said talks with the administration, where teachers have stated their “wants and needs,” have made the need for a union “the best way” to have a “voice on the job that’s recognized in an official capacity.”

The formal announcement of the unionization effort was posted on X, on the JCC Teachers United account @ jccteachers_oh8, on June 5.

Steiner said prior to working at the JCC, she worked in public education and was part of a union. When JCC preschool teachers asked around to see if there was enough interest in unionizing, it was met with an “overwhelming response,” she said.

employees in your peers, and it makes it better for our students and families that are there.”

A total of 117 employees are involved in the unionization effort, and are represented by Council 8 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, according to the case file with the National Labor Relations Board.

The teachers’ initial statement on X reads: “The teachers of the JCC of Greater Columbus are proud to announce that we are unionizing to make the JCC a sustainable place to work for early childhood professionals. We ask that administration voluntarily recognize this union so that we can begin working together to make this not just an incredible place for children, but an incredible place for teachers too.”

'In general, the staff, the teachers, we would like to have a sustainable workplace where we can attract and retain quality teachers.'

Columbus JCC CEO Mike Klapper said in a July 15 email to the Columbus Jewish News that it was formally notified in June of the teachers’ petition filed with the NLRB. He said there are no current policies about unionizing at the JCC and no other part of its workforce is unionized.

representation, we have been conducting a listening tour to better understand any concerns that teachers may have.”

Klapper said that while the Columbus JCC is aware the union organizers have “discouraged” teachers from engaging in the listening sessions, they “value the perspectives and insights” afforded by those teachers who have participated.

“In general, the staff, the teachers, we would like to have a sustainable workplace where we can attract and retain quality teachers,” Steiner, a Bexley resident, said. “It’s always easier when you have quality

“The JCC has always had an opendoor policy with our teachers and staff,” Klapper said. “We are committed to listening to them so that we can fully understand and address any specific and actionable concerns through a productive dialogue. Working within the strict state and federal laws for engaging with employees actively pursuing union

Steiner said the Columbus JCC hired an outside HR consultant and “had us meet with her,” referring to the teachers trying to unionize. A June 11 statement on the @jccteachers_oh8 X account said the consultant pulled teachers out of classes to “sow division.”

“She was able to give some information about unions, but in my experience, it felt very one-sided,” Steiner said. “My perception was that a lot of the information was incomplete, in my opinion.”

Steiner feels as though many organizing teachers

Continued on Page 10

Classes begin August 26

The College of Liberal Arts offers more than 30 bachelor’s degree programs, from anthropology and art to

Columbus JCC Preschool Teacher Jennifer Steiner

Columbus JCC CEO Mike Klapper

JEWISH YEAR MY

SEPTEMBER 8 at NOON: High Holidays

SEPTEMBER 22 at NOON: Tu Bishvat and Purim

OCTOBER 27 at NOON: Passover, Shavuot, and Tisha B’av

COST: Free

RSVP: Call the Temple Office at 937.496.0050 to register.

Whether it feels like you are celebrating Jewish holidays for the first time or the millionth time this year, there’s always something more to discover!

Join us for one or all three of our sessions inspired by Abigail Pogrebin’s book, My Jewish Year. Reading the book is not required; but will start you on a journey that “travels through the calendar’s signposts with candor, humor, and a trove of information, capturing the arc of Jewish observance through the eyes of a relatable, wanderingand wondering – Jew.”

Each of our sessions will focus on a subset of holidays, with the aim of deepening the meaning of these holidays, our personal connection and observance of them, and our connection to each other.

This program is brought to you by Temple Israel’s Adult Education Committee.

Columbus

Continued from Page Nine

believe it has turned into an “us versus them” situation, but are trying to stay positive.

“Teachers have been pulled out of classrooms,” Steiner said, adding she declined her own listening session.

“All meetings have been labeled as voluntary or optional. I do know that some of my colleagues have felt pressured to attend. So while they say that they’re optional, I know that not everyone feels that is true...I only attended the first meeting, and it was over 90 minutes long. Which feels like a long time to be pulled away from your kids in our last weeks and months together because my kids are moving on to kindergarten.”

Steiner said between the JCC’s main campus on College Avenue and the two satellite preschools in Worthington and New Albany, there are over 100 teachers employed. She said the statedesignated ratio is 14 students to one teacher, and this ratio is met, sometimes exceeded, but never below ratio.

Klapper also confirmed this in his email, but declined to confirm the exact number of teachers and their salaries. But, he added “our teacher salaries are higher than those of similar early childhood education providers in the area.”

The Columbus JCC’s preschool teachers are not the first JCC-affiliated teachers to try to unionize. Earlier this year, the Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center’s Early Learning School in Denver was understaffed and working long hours, and were pushing for a union, according to The Denver Post

Other cases filed with the NLRB include the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in East Palo Alto, Calif., and the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey – Betty and Milton Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill.

The JCC of Greater Columbus’ case, 09-RC-343754, is still ongoing, and the employer is represented by Brian Mumaugh and Juan Obregon of Holland and Hart, LLP, both in Denver. The petitioners’ legal representative is Michelle Evans from AFSCME Ohio Council 8.

“We did ask for voluntary recognition because we have the overwhelming majority,” Steiner said. “We knew based on how the process typically goes that was potentially not going to happen, and it didn’t. (Klapper) made it clear that he thought it was important that everyone have a voice. He said that he was going to have it go to a vote and since then, there’s been some other things that we’re waiting to clear to see if we can get to that point.”

The unionizing teachers also claim the Columbus JCC is attempting to get a religious exemption to prevent a union from forming.

Klapper said there are “unique legal issues” with the NLRB asserting

jurisdiction over religious organizations such as the JCC, and the NLRB “must address” those issues.

According to the NLRB’s jurisdictional standards for religious organizations, “The board will not assert jurisdiction over employees of a religious organization who are involved in effectuating the religious purpose of the organization, such as teachers in church-operated schools. The board has asserted jurisdiction over employees who work in the operations of a religious organization that did not have a religious character, such as a health care institution.”

Klapper said, “We have asked the NLRB to first determine whether it may legally retain jurisdiction over the JCC as a Jewish organization before either side makes decisions about how to proceed. We respect that the teachers affiliated with the effort to unionize may have differing opinions in this situation, but it is important to understand that the JCC of Greater Columbus and those teachers not affiliated with the effort have rights that must also be expected.”

Klapper also said labor law is “extraordinarily complex,” so the JCC hired “experts to make sure we conform with all state and federal laws,” but said “to be clear,” they believe the NLRB does not have jurisdiction over the JCC.

“We also believe that a large international labor union made up of mostly government workers have nothing in common with early childhood education or with our unique Jewish faithbased curriculum,” Klapper said.

“A union would create unnecessary bureaucracy and make us slower to respond to teacher needs because we would be required to follow a formal bureaucratic process. We do not believe that is in the best interests of our teachers or the children and families we serve.”

When asked what the next steps are if a resolution beneficial to both parties can’t be reached, Klapper said the organization would “cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Right now, we focused on adding to our understanding of our educators’ perspectives through our listening tour and awaiting clarification from the NLRB,” he said.

Regardless of the situation, Steiner said she has never had a job she loves as much as being a preschool teacher at the JCC. At the end of the day, she said, “we just want what’s best for the teachers, which in turn is what’s best for our students.”

“I have never felt so fulfilled and connected to my role and because of that, I feel really passionately about the place that I work,” she said. “Having a daughter here, I want it to be the best. So if there’s not an official resolution, we still have our union, we have still created this connection, this united front, and we won’t stop advocating for the things that teachers and students need and deserve to have to build a successful classroom.”

Connect with us! Check out our events. For more information, check out our calendar at jewishdayton.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

WEDNESDAYS, 12:30 - 3:30PM Open Canasta

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 10AM - NOON JFS Drive-Thru Mitzvah Mission

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 10:30AM - 1:30PM Museum Field Trip to Prejudice and Memory: A Holocaust Exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 8:45 - 11AM Jewish Dayton at the Foodbank

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 5:45 - 8PM

Community Shabbat: A Celebration with Family and Friends

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 11AM - 12:30PM Women’s Philanthropy Brunch

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 3 - 5PM PJ Library and PJ Our Way Rosh Hashanah Apple Picking

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 5:30 - 8PM PJ Library Down on the Farm

Community Shabbat:

A Celebration with Family and Friends

Friday, September 13, 5:45 – 8PM At The Boonshoft CJCE (525 Versailles Dr., Centerville, 45459)

Join the community for a Shabbat celebration with family and friends of all ages. Experience tradition, community, and joy during a Kabalat Shabbat program. Enjoy a familystyle kosher meal while participating in a camp-style song session.

$18 individual, $36 family. RSVP and menu choice requested by September 6 at jewishdayton.org/events.

In partnership with Hillel Academy of Greater Dayton, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Dayton, PJ Library, and PJ Our Way. This event is made possible through Prizmah and funding provided by an Innovation Grant of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton.

Questions? Contact Kate Elder at kelder@jfgd.net.

September 2024

JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES

Rosh Hashanah Apple Picking

Sunday, September 22, 3 – 5PM Tuken’s Orchard & Farm Market 15725 Eaton Pike, West Alexandria, 45381

PJ joins Beth Abraham Synagogue to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Learn about the holiday and pick your favorite apples to dip in honey!

No charge. RSVP by September 20.

Tuesday, November 26, 7:30 PM

A Beautiful Noise – The Neil Diamond Musical At the Schuster Center 109 North Main Street, Dayton, 45402 Meet at the Theater

To register, visit jewishdayton.org/events

Questions? Please contact Elaine Arnovitz at elaine@bethabrahamdayton.org or Kate Elder at kelder@jfgd.net

Ticket Cost $99 – Orchestra level seating (no booking fee required)

Limited seating available – Must register by October 1

To Purchase Tickets visit jewishdayton.org/events or call 937-610-1555.

AUDITIONS

Sunday, September 15 beginning at 2PM & Tuesday, September 17 beginning at 6PM

At The Boonshoft CJCE (525 Versailles Dr., Centerville, 45459)

Audition for this year's musical — Descendants! Participants should come prepared with a one-minute song selection and a monologue of no more than two minutes. A short dance sequence will be taught, so come dressed in comfortable clothing and adequate footwear to dance.

Performance dates: February 15-16, 2025 | Program fee: $225

Please visit jewishdayton.org/youth-theatre-auditions to schedule an audition.

Museum Field Trips

JCC Adults in partnership with the Beth Abraham Synagogue Program Committee, Beth Jacob Programming Committee, Temple Beth Or Adult Education Committee, and Temple Israel Adult Education Committee invite you and your friends to explore museums in our area! (age 16 and over are welcome)

Tuesday, September 10

10:30AM – 1:30PM • Lunch & Tour at the National Museum of the United States Air Force 1100 Spaatz Street, Fairborn, 45433

Honoring Prejudice And Memory's 25th anniversary on permanent exhibit at the Air Force Museum

• Meet at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at 10:30 AM for a docent-led tour of Prejudice And Memory: A Holocaust Exhibit.

• Tour to be led by Exhibit Founder Dr. Renate Frydman, PhD.

• No cost for the exhibit tour, museum admission, or parking.

• Lunch after the tour at a nearby restaurant (TBD – cost on your own).

RSVP by September 5 at jewishdayton.org/events or to Stacy Emo , semo @jfgd.net, 937-610-5513.

September 2024

For more information visit generalassembly.org

Questions? contact Janese R. Sweeny, Executive Director, Development & Strategy, at jsweeny@jfgd.net.

Washington, D.C. Mini Mission

November 8 – 10

Cost: $800 (double occupancy) a $300 stipend will be provided for each participant in order to make the cost $500

Join us for an exciting three-day trip to DC ahead of the JFNA General Assembly. We will tour exciting Jewish museums, dine at fun and interesting restaurants, experience a special Shabbat dinner together, and enjoy the beauty of Washington D.C. in the fall!

For more information, contact Janese R. Sweeny, Executive Director, Development & Strategy, at jsweeny@jfgd.net.

Down on the Farm

Sunday, September 29, 5:30 – 8PM Candlebrook Farms at Lucas Brothers 3229 Ferry Road, Bellbrook, 45305

PJ Library and JCC Camp Shalom families are invited for our annual evening of fall fun, including hayrides, corn mazes, campﬁres, s’mores and a special mitzvah project!

No charge. RSVP by September 27.

To register, visit jewishdayton.org/events

Questions? Please contact Kate Elder at kelder@jfgd.net

September 2024

JEWISH

Legacies, Tributes, & Memorials

FEDERATION

ANNUAL CAMPAIGN

In memory of Joyce Margolis

Melinda and Bill Doner

THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER

In memory of Joseph Litvin

Harriet Klass

THE RESILIENCE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

In honor of Kellie Weckstein being designated as a “Rising Star” in Top Women in Grocery

Donald and Caryl Weckstein

SEEDS FUND

In memory of Joyce Margolis

In memory of Be’eri Assaf

Heath Gilbert

EDWARD R. HATTENBACH MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND

In honor of Marian and Henry Bernstein’s new granddaughter

Shelley Hattenbach

2024 SUMMER SERIES VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS

Politicization of LGBTQIA Youth & Providers in Ohio

May 10, 2024 8:45am-12pm 3.0 CEUs

*Meets Ethics Requirement*

Sunday, September 8, 10AM – 12PM

Mental Health Considerations for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

June 14, 2024 8:45am-12pm 3.0 CEUs

2024 SUMMER SERIES VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS

Trauma. Everyone has it. Everyone reacts differently to it. From big "T" trauma to little "t" trauma, understanding the effects of trauma helps us to be better therapists, caseworkers, parents, & humans. In our time together we will discuss how to define trauma and, more importantly, how to address trauma within our own bodies and the bodies of those around us.

Supporting Teens with Mental Health Issues & School-Related Challenges

July 12, 2024 8:45am-12pm 3.0 CEUs

The Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville, 45459

No cost

High-Need Items for Crayons to Classrooms

Presenter: Danielle Smith is a social worker and the Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers-Ohio Chapter.

Topics include understanding common mental diagnoses among the population and providing for assessment, intervention and support. Prevalenc common challenges faced by dually diagnosed escalation techniques, and ethical and cultural considerations will also be addressed.

2024 SUMMER SERIES VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS

Presenter: Aaron Earlywine, LPC, is the CarePortal Regional Manager for the Greater Miami Valley Region. He is Social Resilience Model (SRM) certified, a Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) facilitator, and a trauma-informed practitioner and trainer.

This training will explore the mental health crises among teenagers within the school setting. We will discuss common mental health diagnoses for this population, tips for addressing behavioral challenges, and how we as professionals can help support these youth when resources may be limited.

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 Crayons to Classrooms. 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.

Presenter: Rachelle Kistner, M.Ed, PCC-S, LSW is the Program Manager for the ESC program with South Community Behavioral Health. She has 20+ years of experience working with youth and families in various settings such as foster care, juvenile corrections and school-based programming.

pencils, crayons, markers, highlighters, colored pencils, glue sticks, kid scissors, pencil sharpeners, dry erase markers, one subject notebooks

Frozen Macaroni & Cheese Casserole Recipe

• 1-1/2 lbs (24 oz) elbow macaroni

June 14, 2024 8:45am-12pm 3.0 CEUs

• 2 lbs cheese, melted

• 1 can (10.5 oz) cream of celery soup

• 2-1/2 cups milk

Presenter: Carol Kimbrough, MSW, LISW-S, is the Health Services Mgr. at Mont. Co. Board of Developm Disabilities Services (MCBDDS). Her undergraduate in Rehabilitation Svcs., and she has worked as a

May 10, 2024 8:45am-12pm 3.0 CEUs Politicization of LGBTQIA Youth & Providers in Ohio

Presenter: Mark Cummings, BSW, LSW, is a mental therapist with experience providing support to pers developmental disabilities and mental health needs, worked with vulnerable populations in settings such Dayton State Hospital and group homes.

Politicization of LGBTQIA Youth & Providers in Ohio

Mental Health Considerations for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

10, 2024 8:45am-12pm 3.0

*Meets Ethics Requirement*

The 2024 workshop series offers a total of 15 CEUs, approved for licensed social workers and counselors. Registrants must log in by the official starting time and complete the entire course to receive a CEU certificate. No exceptions.

Trauma Basics August 9, 2024 8:45am-12pm 3.0 CEUs

*Meets Ethics Requirement* School boards, city gov’ts, and the state legislature have enacted policies that impact gender diverse and queer youth—often by attacking the practice of health and human services providers. We’ll review current status of these policies, what the future may hold, and how to take advocacy, legal, & practice actions to preserve the right of social workers and other health and human service providers to provide care. We’ll also review how behavioral health professionals working with youth must adapt their practice in light of these laws.

Questions about the workshop topics?

Contact Sabrina Chupp at schupp@fsadayton.org.

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.

Presenter: Mark Cummings, BSW, LSW is a mental health therapist with experience providing support to persons with developmental disabilities and mental health needs, having worked with vulnerable populations in settings such as Dayton State Hospital and group homes. Family Services Association Graceworks Lutheran Services

Clinical Supervision Challenges in the Modern World

September 13, 2024 8:45am-12pm

the school setting. common mental health diagnoses for addressing behavioral challenges, professionals can help support these may be limited.

Calling all social workers and counselors! Join Jewish Family Services and its partners for a morning of online learning for 3 CEUs. Sessions will be held on the second Friday of every month through September.

Topics include understanding common mental health diagnoses among the population and providing strategies for assessment, intervention and support. Prevalence rates, common challenges faced by dually diagnosed clients, deescalation techniques, and ethical and cultural considerations will also be addressed.

Please note that Sabrina can NOT assist you with registration.

NO REFUNDS. Fees prepaid for a missed workshop can be applied to another workshop in the same year by calling Jefferson Alcott at 937.223.7217 x1146.

Presenter: Carol Kimbrough, MSW, LISW-S, is the Mental Health Services Mgr. at Mont. Co. Board of Developmental Disabilities Services (MCBDDS). Her undergraduate degree is in Rehabilitation Svcs., and she has worked as a therapist.

Registration and payment are required prior to the training, in order to receive your link to the Zoom session. The Monday prior to the training, you will receive an email with the Zoom link and details about accessing the training.

Clinical Supervision Challenges in the Modern World

*Meets Supervision Requirement*

Presenter: Danielle Smith is a social worker and the Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers-Ohio Chapter.

Teens with Issues & School-Related

Presenter: Rachelle Kistner, M.Ed, PCC-S, Manager for the ESC program with Behavioral Health. She has 20+ years with youth and families in various settings juvenile corrections and school-based

*Meets Supervision Requirement*

Clinical supervision has always been a challenging complex dynamic within the mental health field. times and events (post-COVID, advancement technology, explosion of severe mental health among the populace, etc.) have further complicated supervisory relationship and significantly increase and legal risks and liabilities. This training will break the etiology of these issues to help you better und the challenges, as well as suggest a variety of sup interventions and tools to meet the demand competen and professionally.

Presenter: Danielle Smith is a social worker and the Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers-Ohio Chapter.

This training will explore the mental teenagers within the school setting. common mental health diagnoses for addressing behavioral challenges, professionals can help support these may be limited.

Presenter: Rachelle Kistner, M.Ed, PCC-S, Manager for the ESC program with South Behavioral Health. She has 20+ years with youth and families in various settings juvenile corrections and school-based

Topics include understanding common diagnoses among the population for assessment, intervention and support. common challenges faced by dually escalation techniques, and ethical considerations will also be addressed.

Presenter: Carol Kimbrough, MSW, Health Services Mgr. at Mont. Co. Board Disabilities Services (MCBDDS). Her in Rehabilitation Svcs., and she has

Presenter: Joshua D. Francis, Ph.D., LPCC-S, LICDC-CS Associate Professor in the Clinical Mental Health Program as well as Director of the Addictions Couns Program in the College of Education and Human Wright State University.

Presenter: Mark Cummings, BSW, therapist with experience providing developmental disabilities and mental worked with vulnerable populations Dayton State Hospital and group homes.

Family Services Approved Provider #RCS032101

How do Jewish Columbia students feel about Minouche Shafik’s resignation? It’s complicated.

By Jackie Hajdenberg New York Jewish Week

Yakira Galler, a Barnard College sophomore, was finishing up work at a Jewish summer camp in New Hampshire when she got a text from a college friend that her university president had resigned.

The events that led to Minouche Shafik stepping down as Columbia University’s president — such as the pro-Palestinian encampment at the school and the unrest that accompanied it — had punctuated Galler’s first year. She had exams canceled and, at one point, delayed a return to campus out of fears for her safety. But she didn't cheer for Shafik’s resignation.

“My initial reaction is a little bit disappointed,” Galler said. “Even though I disagree with a lot of Shafik’s decisions and felt as though she was not strongset in what she was standing for, whatever it was, I think that she had an opportunity to teach an important lesson that even when you make mistakes, you can try to fix those mistakes and try to make amends.”

Galler was not the only Jewish Columbia student or graduate to express a measure of ambivalence about Shafik

stepping down Aug. 15. While some outspoken pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists cheered her departure, others said Shafik deserved a chance lead the school through calmer waters this year. All hoped that her successor would implement policies that, they hope, will create a safer and more tranquil campus.

“She really did seem thoughtful and caring, and I think that she would have had much more of a chance if it hadn’t been, probably, the most fraught year at Columbia since 1968,” said Gabriel Freedman-Naditch, a junior in the joint undergraduate program between Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Freedman-Naditch had attended listening sessions Shafik held in a bid to deescalate tensions during the spring semester. He thought Shafik should have been quicker to discipline protesters who violated university policies but said he thought the past year was an “impossible” situation for the university to handle.

new year is set to begin in September. “I and most other people in the Jewish community are coming back hoping for the best and expecting the worst, but I do hope that people have had time to kind of reflect on the past year, and hopefully we’ll all be able to get more learning done next year,” he added. “Everyone’s still kind of just reeling from the shock of the administration completely turning over over the past few days.”

Activists on campus gave more emphatic reactions to the news — few of them fans of Shafik. Pro-Israel voices have long charged that Shafik let pro-Palestinian students threaten Jews and violate school rules with near-impunity. Pro-Palestinian protesters depicted a mirror image of that critique, blaming her for calling police on the encampment, which led to the arrest of dozens of students, especially after a group occupied a campus building.

movement continues,” the campus chapter of the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement shared on X.

Shai Davidai, an Israeli business school professor at Columbia who has become one of the most visible and outspoken critics of its response to the pro-Palestinian protests, issued a video statement with his response to Shafik’s resignation.

“People are asking me if I’m happy. I’m not happy. I’m not unhappy,” he said. “It’s never been about Shafik, it’s never been personal...It always has and always will be about the Jewish students, staff and faculty.”

He listed policies he’d like

Shafik’s successor to implement, including permanently banning Students for Justice in Palestine, which the university suspended last year; banning masks at protests; and expelling student leaders of “terrorist-supporting pro-Hamas organizations on campus.” He also said Shafik should have been fired earlier in the year.

“I’m looking forward to restoring accountability with the interim president, accountability for students, staff and faculty who engage in antisemitic rhetoric and support terrorism against Jews, against Israelis and against Americans,” he said.

“But most of all, I’m looking forward to working with the interim president on making Columbia safe for everyone in our community, Jews and nonJews.”

He’s apprehensive as the

“The students of Columbia will never forget the sheer violence unleashed upon us by Minouche Shafik, and we will not be placated by her removal as the university’s repression of the pro-Palestinian student

Minouche Shafik

OPINION

It's legal. But is it right?

By Martin Gottlieb

What the leading Jewish lobby in Washington is doing in congressional elections raises some troubling questions. At what point does standing up for a group's beliefs become simple bullying? Just how big a role should money play in our elections? Isn't something wrong when millions of dollars from outside a congressional district are deployed against an incumbent who can't raise remotely as much?

AIPAC — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — is the core of the legendarily successful, legendarily powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

For decades, it has been widely credited with sustaining overwhelming bipartisan support for Israel. Lately, sustaining that support has become more complicated.

A few members of Congress are very boldly pro-Palestinian and hostile to Israel. This year, AIPAC has focused $24 million on defeating two of them in Democratic primaries, and it has been successful. The two have been described as the most prominent Black members of the left-wing progressive caucus.

Personally, I prefer the views of the two winners in those primaries to those of the defeated incumbents, Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, and Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York. Still, something feels wrong here.

It's true that both Bush and Bowman have been accused of harboring antisemitism. Both have used inflammatory rhetoric such as “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” about the war in Gaza. Bush has been accused in the Jewish press of associating with an antisemite in fundraising. But the underlying issue here is support for the Palestinians against Israel.

What AIPAC has done is certainly not illegal. For some people, that fact resolves any qualms. But whether it should be legal is another question.

Current relevant law was established in 2010 by a 5-4 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, in a case known as Citizens United. It eliminated restrictions on “independent expenditures” by politically motivated groups, that is, expenditures by somebody other than a candidate in the race in question.

But even if it's legal, is it right? An aphorism tells us that "politics ain't beanbag." One would have to look hard to find a political organization that declines to use its power in ways it can get away with.

Indeed, defenders of the AIPAC expenditures might say that critics are holding a Jewish organization to a higher standard than others. In fact, though, the AIPAC issue stands out. It has won the attention of the political world for its audacity and success.

Other interest groups have made

So, what do you think?

similar single-minded efforts. But degree — the sheer amount of money — matters.

News reports have made clear that in the case of Bowman race, the ads that were purchased with AIPAC money were generally not about Israel. They did not encourage people to see the necessity of the war against Hamas. They did not say that any congressperson who's hostile to the Israeli position should be defeated. Instead, they focused on whatever subjects Bowman was thought to be politically vulnerable on.

Doesn't that make the case for the AIPAC role weaker? In defending its decisions about which members of Congress to attack, AIPAC makes very clear that its only concern is with the legislator's views on Israel.

So, in the ads, AIPAC is, in effect, pretending to care about things it doesn't care about.

It would be one thing if a real all-out fight for political power were at hand, and the other side was throwing money in. Under those circumstances, fine; throw money in. But the lopsidedness here — the disproportion — is troubling.

The role of money in determining the outcomes of elections is often overstated. In truth, the less-funded side does sometimes win. Excessive focus on the importance of money can come close to making voters out to be a bunch of airheads, able to be influenced by the nonsense in political ads.

But, in truth, primaries do offer a special opportunity for the big-money forces. In primaries, voters are typically not so dug in, not so focused on the ideological differences between the candidates, not acting as members of partisan or ideological camps or interest groups. They are more easily influenced.

Any discussion of “Jewish money” in politics gets into dicey territory. Antisemites are always poised to point to that money to foster their arguments about Jews running the world, or whatever.

AIPAC is right not to worry about that. Plow right through it. If the people making the money decisions think they are doing the right thing, they should do it, of course. But is it right to freak out over a few members of Congress? Was it right to create a situation in which — by most appearances and most accounts — the selection of congressional representatives from Missouri and New York was determined by decisions made by a lobbying group in Washington? It doesn't feel right.

Retired Dayton Daily News editorial writer Martin Gottlieb is advisor to The Dayton Jewish Observer

The Iranian regime is not its people

By Scott Abramson

As the specter of escalation in the Middle East looms ever larger, it’s well worth remembering that the government of Iran doesn’t represent those it presumes to speak for: the people of Iran.

Many Iranians believe their government is more interested in starting fires abroad than putting out the inferno at home. In its never-ending war against Israel, Iran prefers to use Arab clients, but Iranians pay a price for this belligerency in other ways — not least literally.

The regime diverts billions of dollars a year to its “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

Meanwhile, the Iranian people languish in a mismanaged economy of inflation, poverty, and unemployment.

Popular sloganeering reflects this discontent. Iranians have been rallying for decades under slogans like “Forget Palestine! Think about us!” and the less subtle “Death to Palestine!” One slogan in particular — “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon. My life for Iran!”— has been a favorite of Iranian protestors since late 2008.

The bitterness behind such slogans sometimes crosses over into the anti-Arab bias that has existed in Iran ever since the Islamic conquests. The slur Arab-parastan (“Arab worshippers”), for example, is sometimes leveled at regime officials and loyalists by their opponents.

cal effect and, therefore, little popular appeal.

In the theatre that is Iranian elections, the 12-man Guardian Council, its members chosen directly and indirectly by the supreme leader, is the casting director that hand-picks who can run. Of the 80 hopefuls who registered as candidates in June’s presidential election, the Guardian Council disqualified all but six.

Unsurprisingly, the election itself proved to be a performance for which many didn’t even bother showing up; turnout didn’t even crack 40%.

Instead of voting at the polls, many Iranians simply vote with their feet and emigrate.

Every year, a brain drain deprives the Iranian economy of 150,000-180,000 highly skilled professionals who leave for North America or Europe, a human capital flight that is Iran’s loss and the West’s gain. Many of those left behind want out too.

The dynamic between the regime and its most bitter opponents is like that between the protagonist of the Iranian national epic, the Shahnameh, and a mythical being he encounters. “If I say one thing, he’ll do the opposite,” he says of this contrarian creature.

In the same spirit, there are not a few Iranians who seem to relish whatever the regime reviles.

In the “physics” of this relationship, the regime’s repulsion is its opponents’ attraction. The Iranian government has denounced the United States as “the Great Satan” and led chants of “Death to America” at mass assemblies. Its proxies have killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization except Al-Qaeda.

The Iranian population is the most proAmerican in the region after Israel's.

For all this popular resentment, the Iranian regime’s support for Arab terrorism is the least of Iranian grievances. While a majority of its population disapproves of Iran’s leadership, as Gallup polls have repeatedly attested, discontent runs much deeper. They don’t just oppose their leaders but also the Islamic Republic itself.

Iran’s best-known political scientist, the regime-supporter-turned-politicalprisoner Sadegh Zibakalam, has speculated that if a referendum were held on abolishing the Islamic Republic, 70% of Iranians would vote the regime into oblivion.

An internal study by the regime’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance leaked in February bears him out: It found that 73% of Iranians favor decoupling religion from governance.

The Iranian regime, needless to say, would never go for such a vote. The only voting it allows has little practi-

Yet the Iranian population is the most pro-American in the region after Israel’s. Despite the regime’s virulent hatred of Israel and Jews, the Iranian people are, according to the ADL, the least antisemitic in the world’s most antisemitic region.

The same oppositional impulse asserts itself when it comes to Israel. Although the Iranian government has pursued Israel’s destruction as a sacred duty, more than a third of Iranians are favorably disposed toward the Jewish state, a larger proportion than in many European countries.

Sympathizers are common in the Iranian diaspora, where expressing support for Israel isn’t considered high treason.

After the Oct. 7 massacre, Iranian demonstrations in solidarity with Israel sprang up in the U.S., Canada, Belgium, France and Germany. On April 13, the day of Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel, the hashtag #IraniansStandWithIsrael racked up more than 60,000 uses on X.

Nothing is more damning for the

OPINION

Islamic Republic than that it has turned many Iranians away from Islam itself. Many Iranians have abandoned their religion altogether, embracing secularism, reverting to the pre-Islamic religion of their ancestors — Zoroastrianism — or even converting to Christianity.

This devastating verdict on the mullahs’ rule proves that in Iran as in other theocracies, there is no greater enemy of religion than religious government. Given the chasm between Iran’s rulers and the ruled, to conflate Iran’s government and its people is to do the government a service and the people an injustice.

It legitimizes a government that has no mandate for its rule and insults the people by suggesting that a kakistocracy (government by the worst) is the best Iranians can do. Indeed, the Islamic Republic isn’t just unrepresentative of a people that has bestowed countless gifts on humanity, it’s unworthy of them.

When it was established in 1979, the Islamic Republic took two groups hostage: Several dozen Americans and the Iranian people themselves.

The ordeal of the Americans wore on for 444 hellish days before they were released. As for the Iranian people, their captivity endures. They and the world’s many Iran-doostan (friends of Iran) await their liberation.

Scott Abramson is a historian of the modern Middle East and the senior research officer at the Center for Israel Education.

Classes

Beth Jacob Classes: w. Rabbi Agar. Tuesdays, 7 p.m.: Torah Tuesdays on Zoom. Thursdays, 7 p.m.: Thursdays of Thought on Zoom. Call to register, 937-274-2149. bethjacobcong.org/beth-jacobhappenings.

Chabad Classes: Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.: Talmud Class on Zoom & in person. Call for Zoom link. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-6430770.

Temple Beth Or Classes: Sundays, 12:30 p.m.: Adult Hebrew. Thurs., Sept. 12, 7 p.m.: Chai Mitzvah on Zoom. templebethor.com/events. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 937-435-3400.

Temple Israel Classes: Tuesdays, noon: Talmud Study in person & Zoom. Wednesdays, 10 a.m.: Torah Queeries w. Rabbi Bodney-Halasz or Rabbi Sobo, call for location. Sun., Sept. 8 & 22, noon: My Jewish Year. Free. Thurs., Sept. 19, 3:30 p.m.: Living w. Ambiguous Loss w. Rabbi Bodney-Halasz. Fri., Sept. 6, 11 a.m.: Living w. Loss w. Rabbi Bodney-Halasz. Sat., Sept. 7, 21, 28, 9:15: Torah Study on Zoom. Sat., Sept. 14, 9:15 a.m.: Torah Study in person & Zoom. For Torah Study Zoom info., email Fran Rickenbach, franwr@gmail. com. Call for info. tidayton.org/

CALENDAR

calendar. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. Call office to RSVP, 937-496-0050.

Children/Youths

JCC Youth Theatre Auditions: Sun., Sept. 15, 2 p.m. & Tues., Sept. 17, 6 p.m. For Disney’s Descendants. Sign up at jewishdayton.org/events. Contact Suzzy Nandrasy, snandrasy@jfgd.net. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville.

Chabad Ckids Rosh Hashanah Airlines: Sun., Sept. 15, 4 p.m. Free. RSVP at chabaddayton.com/ckids. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-6430770.

Adults

JCC Trip to Prejudice & Memory: A Holocaust Exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force: Tues., Sept. 10, 10:30 a.m. Free. RSVP by Sept. 5 at jewishdayton.org/events. Lunch to follow, pay own way. Contact Stacy Emoff, semoff@jfgd.net. 1100 Spaatz St., Fairborn.

Jewish Dayton at The Foodbank: Thurs., Sept. 12, 8:45 a.m. RSVP by Sept. 9 at jewishdayton.org/events. Contact Jeff Blumer, jblumer@jfgd. net. The Dayton Foodbank, 56 Armor Pl., Dayton.

Beth Jacob Cemetery Cleanup Mitzvah Project: Sun., Sept. 15, 10 a.m. (Rain date

Sun., Sept. 29.) Call for info. 937-274-2149. Beth Jacob Cemetery, 4001 Old Troy Pike, Dayton.

Women

JFGD Women’s Philanthropy Brunch: Sun., Sept. 15, 11 a.m. $36. RSVP by Sept. 9 at jewishdayton.org/events. For info., contact Janese Sweeny, jsweeny@jfgd.net. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. 937-610-1555.

Men

Chabad Bagels, Lox & Tefillin: Sun., Sept 1, 9:30 a.m. 13+ welcome. chabaddayton. com. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-643-0770.

Family

Beth Abraham Rhythm ‘N’ Ruach: Fri., Sept. 13, 5:306:15 p.m. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. 937-293-9520.

PJ Library Community Shabbat: Fri., Sept. 13, 5:45 p.m $18, $36 family. RSVP by Sept. 6 at jewishdayton.org/ events. For info. contact Kate Elder, kelder@jfgd.net. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville.

Temple Israel Prayer & Play: Fri., Sept. 20, 5:30 p.m. Infants–2nd grade. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 937496-0050.

PJ Library & PJ Our Way w. Beth Abraham Rosh

Hashanah Apple Picking: Sun., Sept. 22, 3 p.m. Free. RSVP by Sept. 20 at jewishdayton.org/events. Contact Kate Elder, kelder@jfgd.net. Tuken’s Orchard & Farm Market, 15725 Eaton Pike, West Alexandria.

PJ Library & JCC Camp Shalom Down on the Farm: Sun., Sept. 29, 5:30 p.m. Free. RSVP by Sept. 27 at jewishdayton.org/events. For info. contact Kate Elder, kelder@jfgd.net. Candlebrook Farms at Lucas Brothers, 3269 Ferry Rd., Bellbrook.

Community

JFS Drive-Thru Mitzvah Mission: Sun., Sept. 8, 10 a.m.noon. RSVP at jewishdayton. org/events. For info., contact Jacquelyn Archie, jarchie@ jfgd.net, 937-610-1555. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville.

Collaborative Selichot Service: Sat., Sept. 28: 7:30 p.m.: Minchah. 8:15 p.m.: Reception. 8:30 p.m.: Havdalah followed by Selichot. At Beth Jacob Congregation. W. Beth Abraham, Temple Beth Or, Temple Israel, & the Dayton Jewish Chorale. 7020 N. Main St., Harrison Twp. 937-2742149.

Chabad Rosh Hashanah Market: Mon., Sept. 30, 5-7:30 p.m. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. 937-643-0770.

CONGREGATIONS

Beth Abraham Synagogue Conservative

Rabbi Aubrey L. Glazer

Fridays, 5 p.m.

Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.

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

Beth Jacob Congregation

Traditional Rabbi Leibel Agar Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. Evening minyans upon request. 7020 N. Main St., Dayton. 937-274-2149. bethjacobcong.org

Temple Anshe Emeth Reform

320 Caldwell St., Piqua. Contact Steve Shuchat, 937-7262116, ansheemeth@gmail.com. ansheemeth.org

Temple Beth Or Reform

Rabbi Judy Chessin

Asst. Rabbi/Educator Ben Azriel Fridays, 6:30 p.m. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 937-435-3400. templebethor.com

Temple Beth Sholom Reform

Rabbi Haviva Horvitz 610 Gladys Dr., Middletown. 513-422-8313. templebethsholom.net

Temple Israel Reform

Senior Rabbi Karen BodneyHalasz Rabbi/Educator Tina Sobo Fri., Sept. 6, 6 p.m. Fridays, Sept. 13, 20, 27, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 937-496-0050. tidayton.org

Temple Sholom Reform

Rabbi Cary Kozberg Fridays, 6 p.m. 2424 N. Limestone St., Springfield. 937-399-1231. templesholomoh.com

RELIGION

Teshuva goes beyond apologies

By Rabbi Tina Sobo

Temple Israel

Teshuva, generally translated as repentance, is a concept we Jews draw a lot from during the High Holidays. Its root meaning is to return.

Most would say that we are returning to God, to a more righteous path of action, etc., and that this month of Elul is about reflecting on how we have missed the mark (chet) in that regard.

There’s a teaching by Rav Kook that teshuva is about returning to the essence of our soul — to return to ourselves in order to reconnect with God — the ultimate Jewish goal.

Chabad of Greater Dayton

Rabbi Nochum Mangel

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

Yellow Springs Havurah Independent Antioch College Rockford Chapel. 1st & 3rd Saturday each month. Contact Len Kramer, 937-5724840 or len2654@gmail.com.

Teshuva as a concept immediately conjures up Maimonides’ stages for repentance as an excellent model for a true apology.

Perspectives

We acknowledge our wrongdoing, feel remorse, make a choice to change, make amends, and prepare not to repeat the same type of wrongdoing in the future.

This introspective take on repentance stands in stark contrast to the "playground apology" grumbled after grown-up insistence. Teshuva and Elul are more than just this introspection.

I thought about that teaching while watching the Paris Olympics, particularly the gymnastics, and how even at the Olympic level there were slips, falls, and spotters needed. Athletes spoke about overcoming challenges, and more.

There were athletes who could've given up, walked away, pouted, gone for an easier routine, or made a dozen other choices, but who persevered and kept aiming for the loftiest of goals.

We strive to be our best, for perfection, for our goals. Often we miss, fall short, stumble, get distracted.

At those moments, we have a choice: to give up, walk away, reset expectations, change our trajectory. Or we can choose to refocus, get up, and try again.

It's not just about making amends and avoiding future mistakes.

Teshuva goes beyond apologies. It’s not just about making amends and avoiding future mistakes.

Many of the sins we confess at this season are unknowing, unintentional, and otherwise inadvertent. For the most part, we do not go through life wanting to make other people’s lives difficult and to be obnoxious.

This, I think, is the essence of return, of teshuva. God knows we are human, including the imperfection and chaos that come with being human.

To engage in teshuva at this season is to reflect on the past to reconnect with ourselves and God at an innermost level.

This will give the resolve and strength to move forward, to overcome challenges, and to try again this coming year.

September 6: 7:41 p.m.

September 13: 7:30 p.m.

September 20: 7:18 p.m.

September 27: 7:07 p.m.

Meredith Moss Levinson surprised her brother, Israeli Judaica artist David Moss, when she attended the National Library of Israel's ceremony in Jerusalem Aug. 6 announcing it had received the original Moss Haggadah illuminated manuscript from donors Trudy Elbaum Gottesman and Robert Gottesman. In June, the Gottesmans purchased the Moss Haggadah for $480,000 via a Sotheby's auction. David, who was born and raised in Dayton, worked on the Haggadah from 1980 to 1984.

And back here in Dayton, Julie has joined the board of Learn to Earn Dayton.

“The Moss Haggadah represents a high point for contemporary Judaic artwork and the 20thcentury revival of Hebrew calligraphic arts, in which David Moss played – and continues to play – a pivotal role,” said the library's head of collections, Raquel Ukeles, according to ejewishphilanthropy. com. Meredith said David sent her an invitation but didn't expect her to show up. "It was such an unbelievable thrill to sit in the rare book room of this magnificent new library and hear my brother and his work receive this wonderful lifetime recognition," she said. "I loved that he credited our parents and growing up in Dayton! I am so proud of him!"

September 7: Shoftim (Deut. 16:18-21:9)

September 14: Ki Tetze (Deut. 21:10-25:19)

September 21: Ki Tavo (Deut. 26:1-29:8)

September 28: NitzavimVayelech (Deut. 29:9-31:30)

Scott Halasz, managing editor of the Xenia Daily Gazette and the Fairborn Daily Herald, has been named Best Sports Writer in Division I by the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors. He also received second place in the Best Feature Writer category.

The Department of Defense has honored Rachel Kinard, a research mathematician with the Air Force Research Laboratory, with its SMART Mentor of the Year Award, for her work mentoring intern Nathan Jones, SMART Scholar of the Year. SMART stands for Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation.

Connie Blum, who for 26 years has served as a Montgomery County coordinator and volunteer with the Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program (OSHIIP), was honored in July by the National Senior Health Insurance Information Program at the U.S. Administration for Community Living Office of Healthcare Information and Counseling national conference. She's the 2024 Outstanding SHIP Volunteer.

CBS/Nickelodeon Graphics Operator Alex Katz, son of Marc Katz and Julie Liss-Katz, won a 2023-24 Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical Team Event, Super Bowl LVII.

After more than eight years with the Dayton Better Business Bureau, Sarah Caplan has joined the team at the Entrepreneurs' Center as its community outreach manager.

Elliot A. Ratzman, previously Jewish studies visiting assistant professor at Earlham College, is now a research fellow at the University of Michigan's new Raoul Wallenberg Institute.

Steven Solomon has joined the board of Temple Israel, where he is a member of the Adult Education Committee. He also recently joined the executive board of the Miami Council of Scouting America. A former federal emergency response official, Steven is also on the boards of Preservation Dayton, Miami Valley Crime Stoppers, and the Lincoln Society of Dayton. He also proofreads for this publication.

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

Rabbi Tina Sobo

Meredith Moss Levinson with brother David Moss, who created the Moss Haggadah, at the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Aug. 6.

Moss family

Connie Blum

Alex Katz

Courage or cowardice?

Judaism's Worldview Series

A slave of the Hasmonean king, Alexander Yannai, killed a man and was brought to trial. Since the Torah required that even an ox accused of goring a person to death be testified against together with its master, the judges summoned the monarch to court. The Talmud recounts how Yannai arrived and sat down. The presiding judge, Shimon ben Shetach, instructed him: “Yannai the king, stand on your feet before the One Who spoke the world into being, as

Candace R. Kwiatek

both sides give their testimony.” Yannai countered: “I will not stand when you alone say this to me, but according to what your colleagues say, and if the whole court tells me, I will stand.”

Turning to the judges, Ben Shetach found every one with his face to the ground, completely silent. Ben Shetach said to them: You are masters of thoughts alone. May the Master of thoughts come and punish you. Immediately, the angel Gabriel came and struck those judges to the ground, and they died.

Courage, like that displayed by Ben Shetach, is a universally admired virtue and a common feature in traditional tales and folklore across generations and cultures.

Defined as “the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty,” the word courage derives from the Latin root cor or heart, the symbol of one’s emotional center and spiritual core. Courage originally meant “to tell the story of who you are,” explains researcher Brené Brown, to reveal one’s essence.

Described by Winston Churchill and

JEWISH FAMILY EDUCATION

others as “the first of human qualities,” courage is foundational to successfully practicing all other virtues, most notably in situations when different values conflict.

And just as Aristotle believed, modern researchers have concluded that individuals develop courage by doing courageous acts, a self-reinforcing feedback loop that creates a moral habit.

Accordingly, the cowardly judges who did not second Ben Shetach’s legitimate demand for fear of the king’s wrath undermined not only justice but also the likelihood of their acting courageously in the future.

In Judaism, a similar notion of courage is expressed by the Hebrew term ometz lev, courage of the heart or heart-strength. According to Rabbi Marc Margolius, every human is innately endowed with ometz lev, which can be accessed at any given moment. Yet despite being a core spiritual and ethical value, courage is rarely addressed independently in traditional Jewish literature.

spite our fear…doing that which is right and just, even in the face of challenging emotions.”

Ancient lawsuit. In the fourth century B.C.E., an assembly of Egyptians appeared before Alexander the Great to bring a lawsuit against the Jews. The Egyptians claimed the Jews took an enormous amount of valuables when they left Egypt, justifying their claim with Ex. 12:35-36, which says the Jews “stripped” Egypt of such items.

In response, the Torah scholar Gebihah Ben Pesisa used the 40th verse in the same chapter to show that the Jews lived in Egypt for 430 years. He then issued a counterclaim, demanding payment of the wages owed to the 600,000 Jews who left Egypt for 430 years of enforced labor.

Alexander gave the Egyptians an opportunity to reply, but they left the court and never returned.

One guest opined that “the Chosen People asked for it.” When another uttered the cliché, “Some of my best friends are Jews,” Laura chimed in. “Some of mine are, too. Including my father and mother.” Laura Z. Hobson went on to write the 1947 bestselling novel Gentleman’s Agreement about antisemitism in America.

There is the familiar biblical charge of chazak v’amatz, “be strong and courageous…do not be afraid” when God expects the Israelites to be resolute in the face of dangers. On the eve of battle, the priests are obligated to similarly rally the troops. Judges are exhorted, “do not be afraid because of a man,” meaning, “do not cater decisions to aristocrats or bullies,” Rabbi Yitzhak Blau explains. Courage is perhaps best learned from the endless stories of individual Jews throughout history. Abraham. Miriam. Mordechai. Esther. Rabbi Hillel. Dona Gracia Nasi, rescuer of Inquisition Jews. Jacob Barsimon, champion of New World Jews’ equal rights. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, reviver of the Hebrew language. Frieda Caplan, produce-industry pioneer. Harold Grinspoon, founder of PJ Library. Noa Tishby, Zionist activist and author.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that courage isn't “not to fear at all,” but rather choosing not to frighten ourselves beyond the fear we already experience. “Courage involves moving forward de-

Literature to share

Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt by Raphael Zarum. Looking for the modern meaning and relevance of Jewish traditions? This thought-provoking work is the perfect place to find some satisfying responses. A combination of history, philosophy, Torah and text, and modern Jewish thought in a conversational format, this award-winner addresses a dozen of the most common topics, from Creation to belief.

Not Nothing by Gayle Forman. In this middle-grade fiction that’s both heartbreaking and hopeful, the storylines of two characters intersect in transformative ways. One is 12-year-old Alex, whose life is significantly imperfect, whose unexpected violence leads to judge-ordered community service, and who believes he doesn’t matter at all. The other is the 107-year-old narrator, Joseph, a Holocaust survivor living in a retirement home who refuses to speak. Courage, friendship, and rising to the occasion are some of the themes that make this novel a great family read or conversation starter.

Dinner party. Laura Z. Hobson could have passed for gentile, but she was fiercely proud of her Jewish heritage. Just before World War II, she was at a dinner party in New York. When the conversation turned to Europe’s growing Nazi movement, some commented about “those awful Germans.” Others dismissed the Nazis as a fringe group.

Bench memoir. For a half century, David Tatel has practiced as a lawyer, litigated in the courts, and served as a judge. His commitment to principled decision making based on faithful application of the law led to his appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, America’s second highest court. There, he served for nearly 30 years. He recently retired from the bench and returned to private practice. Tatel’s life is truly “a profile in courage.” Blind for the past 50 years, he has just completed his first book, a memoir titled Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice. Traditionally recited during the fall holiday season, Psalm 29 ends with “Chazak veya’ametz libecha — Be strong and encourage your heart.” In the year ahead, cultivate courage in your daily activities.

“When we are attentive,” Rabbi Marc Margolius writes, “we notice innumerable opportunities to practice ometz lev by facing our fears honestly and summoning strength from the heart to do that which we recognize as true and just.”

The Cowardly Lion illustration by W.W. Denslow, 1900

SHANA TOVAH

Temple Beth Or invites you to join us for the High Holy Days.

In-person and live streaming services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Erev Rosh Hashanah, Wednesday, Oct. 2

7:30 p.m. In-Person and Live Streaming

Rosh Hashanah, Thursday, Oct. 3

10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. In-Person and Live Streaming

12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. Family Interactive Service

Kol Nidre, Friday, Oct. 11

7:30 p.m. In-Person and Live Streaming Service

Yom Kippur, Saturday, Oct. 12

10:00 a.m. In-Person and Live Streaming Service

12:00 p.m. Family Interactive Service

2:00 p.m. The Heart of Israel Society: Reflections from Rabbi Azriel’s Recent Journey in Israel

4:30 p.m. Yizkor Service, In-Person and Live Streaming

5:30 p.m. Ne’ilah, In-Person and Live Streaming

Break the Fast to follow Visit templebethor.com for service times & updates

Churro Challah

An indulgent Mexican twist on tradition.

By Danielle Sinay, The Nosher

I'm a Jewish Mexican baker and spend lots of time baking either Jewish or Mexican dishes, but never a combination of both. Until now. I felt it was time to change that — so I created the challo: A slightly sweeter challah bread spiced with churro seasoning (aka cinnamon sugar) that I like to call my culinary self portrait.

Churros are a Mexican culinary staple originating from Spain: fried dough pastry sprinkled in cinnamon sugar. In some places, they’re considered breakfast, in others, snacks, and in the United States, they’re marketed most often as dessert — though I personally think they make a fine replacement for just about any meal.

Since I grew up eating both challah and churros and love them equally, I figured, hey, why couldn’t I turn these into one? After much trial and error, I’m pleased to present the challo (pronounced hallo) — it’s so good you’ll struggle not to finish the entire loaf in one sitting.

Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes Yield: 6-8

2/3 cup lukewarm water

1 Tbsp. dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

4½ cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs, beaten + 1 egg yolk (reserve whites for glazing)

½ Tbsp. salt

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

¼–½ cup cinnamon sugar

Dissolve the yeast in the water with the one teaspoon of sugar. Stir well and leave for 10 to 15 minutes to ensure it foams. If it foams, the yeast is active and you’re good to go. If it doesn’t, try another packet or type of yeast.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then add the salt, sugar, and oil and beat again. Add the foamy yeast mixture and mix well.

Add the flour, a cup at a time. Mix well — start with a large spoon or fork and then work it in with your hands. Knead aggressively for about 15 minutes, until it is very smooth and elastic. I like to “smack” the dough onto my working surface as a fun kneading technique. If the dough feels too sticky, add more flour.

Pour a small amount of oil into the bowl and turn the dough so that it’s greased evenly.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and leave in a warm place to proof for two to three hours, or until the dough has doubled in size. You can tell it’s done proofing if, when you poke the dough with your finger, the indent remains and it does not bounce back. Once the dough has doubled in size, knead it a second time. At this point, you can either divide into two pieces to make two loaves or move forward with the dough as one large loaf.

Braid challah into desired shape and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure there is adequate room for the dough to expand. Cover dough in plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for about one hour, or until it’s doubled in size. You can use the proof-ready tip again: Poke it with your finger, and if it leaves an indent, it’s ready.

Brush the bread with remaining egg whites and sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture all over. Coat lightly or generously, depending on your preference. Bake in a preheated 390-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes. If you’re unsure if they’re done baking, tap the bottoms: If they’re baked, the bread will sound hollow.

Danielle Sinay

Why students 16 to 84 spent their summer studying Yiddish in NY

By Julia Gergely New York Jewish Week

When Tara Neuwirth arrived in New York in June for six weeks of intensive Yiddish study at the YIVO Institute for Yiddish Research, she knew what to expect — this summer was her third time taking the course over four decades.

The first time the Los Angeles native took the course was more than 40 years ago, when she was a graduate student studying Russian Literature and minoring in Yiddish at Yale. The second time was in 2022, when she returned to brush up on the Yiddish she had learned but never really practiced. This year, Neuwirth came ready to hit the ground running: Alongside her coursework, she brought along a project translating letters and articles on behalf of a family whose grandfather wrote for the Yiddish Daily Forward in the mid20th century.

“In some ways, this year has been the most personal,” said Neuwirth, who is in her 60s. “This year, I’ve been able to ask myself, ‘Why am I studying

Yiddish? What do I want to do with it?’

What I want to do is translate, because I don’t want literature to be lost. I now feel more of a commitment than I did before to not let Yiddish be lost to the world — and not just Yiddish, but the culture of it.”

Neuwirth is one of 40 students from around the world who came to New York to participate in YIVO’s summer intensive program, called the Uriel Weinreich Summer Program for Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture; another 30 people joined the full-time course over Zoom. On Aug. 2, these students — who range in age from 16 to 84 and hail from countries as diverse as Lithuania, India, and Poland — held their graduation ceremony, or siem in Yiddish, at YIVO’s headquarters near Union Square. The celebration included skits, poems, and songs performed entirely in the Eastern European Jewish language; non-speakers could still get the feel of the event as they watched the crowd laugh, sing, and clap in unison as different groups of students moved

through their presentations.

Ben Kaplan, YIVO’s director of education, said the program was the first and longest-running Yiddish intensive course offered — and gave students more than just language instruction.

“We see Yiddish as a civilization that should be studied in all its richness and complexity,” he said.” We’re always kind of fighting against the current a little bit, because some folks just see it as a silly, funny language, or the language of grandma and grandpa, as opposed to a very rich, deep language that has all kinds of seriousness.”

The program, which has been running continuously since 1968, draws students for a variety of reasons. Many

are graduate students studying German, which is similar to Yiddish, or literature or an aspect of Eastern European history. Some seek to supplement their coursework: YIVO’s program allows students to earn college credit through a partnership with Bard College.

Others are Ashkenazi Jews who want to know more about their ancestry, and still others are professional artists who want to learn more about Yiddish works in their fields, such as theatre or music.

“You have the older folks that have so much wisdom to pass down and share in life experience, which really enriches the classroom,” Kaplan said. “Then you have younger folks who are really

Find Community at Hillel Academy

YIVO students present their final project, a comical original performance, in New York, Aug. 2.

Melanie Einzig

A Miami Valley Tradition

L’Shanah

1. Select your greeting size. Check off your selection: A, B, or C. Happy New Year to all our friends The Mensch Family A

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2. Select your greeting. Check off your selection.

□ L’Shanah Tovah

□ Happy New Year

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□ May the year ahead be blessed with good health & cheer

□ New Year’s greetings from

□ We wish the Dayton Jewish community a very happy new year

□ Wishing you a new year of health, happiness, and peace

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Yiddish

Continued from Page 21

excited and passionate and just starting out and are looking back towards the previous generation, while looking forward to the future.”

The intensive, Kaplan said, grew significantly in 2020, the first year YIVO started offering the program online due to the pandemic.

The in-person enrollment has held relatively steady at approximately 40 students, said Kaplan, and Zoom has enabled YIVO to add an online component. That change also made the program accessible to students worldwide, including many who couldn’t come to New York for the summer, as well as students who prefer studying at home.

“Being online really opens up options,” Kaplan said. “It’s the same core curriculum and you get it delivered to you directly. That’s very, very powerful as a pedagogical tool.”

A major aspect of the in-person program is a focus on Yiddish culture. Students take field trips to the Lower East Side, a bastion of Yiddish in generations past, and the Satmar Chasidic community in Williamsburg, where it is used today as a lingua franca. They also go to Long Island City to visit CYCO, the last surviving independent Yiddish bookstore in the city.

Syed Habeeb Tehseen, a Ph.D. student at Duke University from India, studies German film, and needed to learn Yiddish to supplement his coursework. “Personally, I really just like the language and when I was exposed to it initially, I just wanted to learn more of it, because I just love reading literature, not in translation, but in the original,” said Tehseen, who is not Jewish. “I felt like I wanted to learn more and more of it.”

Aistė Puidokatė is a librarian at the National Library of Lithuania, and took the course so that when she returned home to Vilnius, she’d be able to read and translate thousands of Yiddish documents in the archives at the library.

“I needed to get better knowledge of Yiddish because I work with Yiddish documents — I read them, I organize them, I photograph them,” said the 32-year-old, who is likewise not Jewish. She said the course vastly improved

her Yiddish reading skills, which is what she needed for her work. But she came away with more than she expected: “I’ve come to love Yiddish culture,” she said, pointing especially to the classes she took on Yiddish literature and on the kumzitz, a traditional Yiddish song circle.

The six-week program divides students into four different levels, ranging from beginners to fluent speakers. A rigorous academic undertaking, the summer intensive combines three hours of classes on language and literature in the mornings with conversation classes and electives — which include courses on Yiddish theatre, song, music, and cooking, as well as archival research and translation — in the afternoons.

“It’s a family dynamic,” said Dovid Braun, the program’s academic director. “You get to know people, you get to create a community really unlike anything else…Here, this was your choice to spend your summer here. We have people who are devoted to it, who really want to be here. This is their summer plan and their pleasure to be here.”

For Kasia Świerad-Redwood, a native of a small town near Poland’s Galicia region and a Ph.D. candidate in history at Notre Dame who is studying cultural nation-building in Eastern Europe, understanding the now-absent Yiddish culture that once permeated her country has been a personal and professional mission.

Świerad-Redwood, who is not Jewish, said that until she started the YIVO course, “I didn’t realize just how enmeshed the two cultures were in Poland.” For example, she realized that many of the songs and lullabies she grew up with were actually Yiddish. Świerad-Redwood described her YIVO education as “a really moving process,” realizing “what kind of country it (Poland) could have been versus what kind of country it has become.”

“It’s difficult to realize that so much diverse, beautiful culture was lost from my place of origin, and that I never had a chance to experience it and be a part of it, especially coming from a town that had a really large Jewish population before the Holocaust, and also realizing just how little memorialization of that culture there is in my town and my hometown.”

The Weinrich Summer Programs draws a diverse range of students from around the world.

Melanie Einzig

Karyl Cohn (née Stein), age 95, passed away peacefully on July 21 in Tucson, Ariz. Born in 1929, in Dayton, Karyl's life was a testament to her passion for music and her enduring love for her family. Karyl's musical journey began at the tender age of 8 with piano lessons, which blossomed into a lifelong career. She was a prodigious talent, performing as a soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra at just 15. Karyl's education was equally impressive, attending the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Juilliard in New York City, and the Mannes School of Music, NYC. She further honed her skills under Madame Olga Conus at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Throughout her life, Karyl graced many stages in Ohio, Colorado, California, and Arizona with her performances and contributed to the musical community by teaching piano and judging young adult piano competitions. She was also a proud lifetime member of the Delta Omicron Music Fraternity. Karyl's love extended beyond music to her family and community. She married Edward (Eddie) Cohn, with whom she shared 60 years of marriage and three children. The couple enjoyed summers waterskiing in Indiana and later, the serene beauty of the Colorado Rockies after moving to Boulder in 1975. In 2000, they settled in Tucson, continuing their active involvement in the local music scene. Karyl also taught Hebrew school in her younger years and was a member of Temple Israel in Dayton. Her personal life was filled with joy from her extensive family and friends. Karyl is survived by her son, Roger Cohn (Aileen), her daughters, Kathy; and Betsy Cohn White (John). She was a cherished grandmother to Stephanie, Eric Guido (Sylvia), Jacob (Jake) Cohn, Kirsten Hutton (Josh), Maggie DeLaCruz (Steve), Cassandra D'Acunto (Dominic), Leslie Mochtarian (Aric), Samantha and John (Bok) Cohn. She is remembered lovingly by her great-grandchildren, Nayah, Jaden, Judah, and Liam Hutton; Vaughn and Jones Mochtarian; and Isabella and Camila Guido; brother Bob (Helen) and many nieces, nephews, sister-in-law and friends that loved her dearly. Karyl was preceded in death by her parents, Louise and Jacob

Stein; brother, Fred Stein (Sharon) and of course as mentioned earlier, her wonderful husband Eddie. Karyl's life was a beautiful blend of music, family, and community. While no memorial service is currently planned, a celebration of her life may be held in the future. While it is not expected, donations in memory of Karyl can be made to SaveTheMusic.org, MTNAfoundation. org, or Lupus.org. Her legacy of music and love will resonate for generations.

Joseph Litvin, a licensed professional engineer, a licensed professional surveyor, an attorney at law, and a private pilot, passed away July 22 at Miami Valley Hospital. He was born in Detroit, Feb. 23, 1935 and was preceded in death by his parents, Paul and Devora Litvin. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Elaine (Sis) Litvin and his two daughters, Sharon Beth Schramm (Marc) of Columbus and Ruthie Goodboe (Michael) of Presto, Pa. Joe is survived by his brothers, Daniel (Tikva) of Wyomissing, Pa. and David (Rebecca) of Englewood, N.J.; nephews, Michael Litvin and Steve Litvin; and his niece, Rose Litvin of San Jose, Calif. He is also survived by grandchildren Chaim (Lisa), Yedidah (Joe), Zev (Michele), Channa (Jacob), and seven great-grandchildren: David, Amira, Caleb, Yaffa, Miriam, Zeke, and Julia. Interment was at the Jewish Cemetery of the Virginia Peninsula in Hampton, Va. Joe was a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science Degree in engineering, and the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Science degree. He received his law degree from The Ohio State University in 1973. The family moved to Dayton in 1963 when Joe worked for Union Carbide to supervise the building of homes in Red Coach Farms in Kettering. When Union Carbide left Dayton, Joe went to work for Arthur Beerman Construction Company (ABCO). He left ABCO to attend law school and practiced as a construction attorney for 15 years. He was tapped by the Democratic Party in 1995 to be the Montgomery County Engineer, a post he was reelected to four times before retiring in 2011, just short of 16 years in the position. During his tenure he oversaw rebuilds of the $6 million Rip Rap Road Bridge

OBITUARIES

and the $5.6 million Siebenthaler Avenue Bridge, which took four years to complete. He was a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, a past president of the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers, a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a past president of the Dayton Section of ASCE. He was a dedicated member of the Engineers Club of Dayton where he enjoyed the weekly Barn Gang luncheon presentations, was a devoted member of Beth Jacob Congregation in Dayton, where he served for one year as president, and was a longtime member of the Retired Old Men Eating Out (ROMEO) group that met for lunch every Friday at the Legacy Pancake House. He especially loved traveling to visit his extended family for their special occasions and his many trips to Costa Rica with Sis for Passover. He also relished telling stories, especially about his father. On Sunday, Sept. 1, there will be a special memorial service to talk and share stories about Joe. It will be held at Beth Jacob Congregation at 1 p.m. Donations may be made to Ohio Society of Professional Engineers Scholarship Fund, the Navy Seal Foundation, Beth Jacob Congregation, Dayton Chapter of Hadassah, or the charity of your choice.

Harvey Ronald Tuck, age 96, of Dayton, passed away peacefully in his sleep after a brief illness on July 15. Harvey was born May 30, 1928 in Boston and grew up in Chelsea, Mass. A brilliant student, Harvey taught himself to repair radios in his father's appliance shop at the age of 14. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he completed a combined Bachelor and Master of Science Degree program in mechanical engineering, with a concentration in thermodynamics. He then entered the Air Force and was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, where he conducted research on advanced propulsion technologies. He met his wife, Sonna Cohen Tuck, while he was a lieutenant there and they were married June 14, 1953, enjoying 64 years of marriage until Sonna's passing in 2017. After the Air Force, he worked as an industrial engineer at Frigidaire, developing improved technologies for refrigeration. Recogniz-

ing the importance of computers, he then took a position at IBM as a systems engineer and helped install and develop software for mainframe computer systems until his retirement in 1991. He was active as a volunteer tutor for math in the public schools in Montgomery County, helped establish a computer science curriculum at Sinclair College, and was a member of the Engineers Club of Dayton. A great lover of travel, Harvey and Sonna visited many places in the U.S. and across the world, including Israel, Japan, Europe, Russia, and the Caribbean. He especially loved St. Maarten and visited there regularly in his retirement. Until his most recent illness, Harvey remained active and independent, living in the home he loved. Harvey was widely beloved and admired. He enjoyed meeting new people and learning about their lives. He was as kind and loving of a soul as you could ever hope to meet. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Harvey was preceded in death by his loving wife, Sonna, and her brother, Carl Cohen. He is survived by his sister, Audrey; daughters, Cindy Pulliam (Ron) and Victoria Buford (John), and their sons, his grandchildren Ryan Pulliam (Crystin Stoll), Daniel Buford (Sarah), Sam Buford (Ashley Van Doren), and Carl Buford; sister-in-law, Judy Cohen (Clay Blackwell); and nieces, Debbie Roberston (Tim) and Robin Shaw; and grandnephews, Andrew DiSalvo (Liz), Adam DiSalvo, Zachary Shaw (Anna), and Jeremy Shaw. Donations may be made in Harvey's memory to Camp Sunshine (campsunshine.org) in Maine.

Shirley R. Wahrman, age 84, of Milwaukee, formerly of Dayton, passed away July 26 at Ovation Jewish Home. Shirley was born and raised in Dayton to the late Joseph and Charlotte Zusman. She was a member of Beth Abraham Synagogue in Dayton and Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid in Milwaukee. Shirley was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Wolf, in 1997. She is survived by her three children, Lorene Wahrman, Aaron Wahrman, and Harlan (Joan) Wahrman; her two beloved grandchildren, Connor Wahrman and Zachary Wahrman; and her brother Howard (Lynn) Zusman. Interment was at Beth Abraham Cemetery. Donations in memory of Shirley Wahrman can be made to Ovation Jewish Home, ovation.org/foundation/ donate.

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