Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton

On April 25th, an anti-Semitic cartoon ran in the international edition of the Times, depicting the Prime Minister of Israel as a dog, leading a blind American president wearing a yarmulke. When I was made aware of this disturbing cartoon, I was deeply bothered.

As many of you may be aware, today is a very special day. It is Administrative Professionals Day.

I love to read. In fact, I make a point to read every day. There is something magical about escaping in the pages of a good book. Occasionally I come across a book that not only provides me that escape, but also proves to be transformative.

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the Driving Out Darkness: Cincinnati Regional Summit on Antisemitism and Hate. It was an incredible day where each speaker was more amazing then the next.

There are several topics in this world that tend to produce tense and often destructive conversations.

“Hate speech is what happens before hate crimes,” said Representative Steve Stivers. As a representative for Ohio’s 15th congressional district, he was one of the many people I had the privilege of meeting with this past Wednesday.

I like to consider myself a visual artist. Anyone who knows me knows calligraphy and mosaics are a passion of mine.

JCRC Director Rabbi Ari Ballaban recently attended the National JCRC Conference. When I think of JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council), I think about what it was like when I was a volunteer many years ago.

Last November, women from Dayton and Israel came together for Women Leading a Dialogue. A program of Partnership2Gether, Women Leading a Dialogue brings together women of all religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds to discuss their history, customs and culture.

It’s hard to believe that the month of January is already coming to a close. It has been an incredibly busy (and cold!) month.