Stay connected with the Jewish community by exploring upcoming events and programs happening in the Greater Dayton area. Mark your calendar and join us for meaningful experiences that celebrate Jewish life, culture, and tradition.
Monday, December 21 - Thursday, December 31, 2026 (closed Friday, December 25 - Sunday, December 27) Location TBA Winter Camp Shalom is coming! Join us for a fun-filled winter break with friends, games, activities, and plenty of Camp Shalom spirit. $75/day or $200/week. More details coming soon! Click here to register by December 16. Questions? Contact Jennifer Holman at jholman@jfgd.net.
Monday, December 21 - Thursday, December 31, 2026 (closed Friday, December 25 - Sunday, December 27) Location TBA Winter Camp Shalom is coming! Join us for a fun-filled winter break with friends, games, activities, and plenty of Camp Shalom spirit. $75/day or $200/week. More details coming soon! Click here to register by December 16. Questions? Contact Jennifer Holman at jholman@jfgd.net.
Tuesday, January 12, 2027 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Via Zoom Samantha Ellis Always Carry Salt: A Memoir of Preserving Language and Culture As Speakers of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic dwindle, Samantha Ellis fears more than the loss of a language — she fears the loss of an entire inheritance. The daughter of Iraqi Jewish refugees, she embarks on a heartfelt journey to preserve the stories, sayings, recipes, and traditions that shaped her family’s identity. From ancient artifacts and rare language archives to treasured family memories and beloved foods, Samantha explores how culture survives across generations. Warm, witty, and deeply moving, Always...
Runs Thursday, October 15, 2026 – Thursday, February 4, 2027 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education 525 Versailles Drive Centerville, OH 45459 Call all young writers and theatre lovers in grades 6-12! Join Jay Weiss for a fun, creative Writers Workshop, designed to help you bring your ideas to the stage. Explore storytelling, character development, dialogue, and the art of writing for theatre while creating your own original material. Whether you are an experienced writer or just getting started, come find your voice and discover the storyteller in you! $100/person for a 10-wk course...
Thursday, January 21, 2027 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Via Zoom Roberta Rosenthal Kwall Polarized: Why American Jews are Divided and What to Do about It In a time of deep division and rising tensions, Professor Roberta Rosenthal Kwall explores the growing fractures within American Jewish life and the challenges they pose for the future. Examining debates over religious identity, Israel, antisemitism, politics, and generational change, she reveals how differing values and experiences have intensified polarization, particularly following the October 7 attacks and the Israel-Hamas war. Drawing on law, history, sociology, psychology, and Jewish tradition, Kwall offers both a compelling...
Runs Thursday, October 15, 2026 – Thursday, February 4, 2027 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education 525 Versailles Drive Centerville, OH 45459 Call all young writers and theatre lovers in grades 6-12! Join Jay Weiss for a fun, creative Writers Workshop, designed to help you bring your ideas to the stage. Explore storytelling, character development, dialogue, and the art of writing for theatre while creating your own original material. Whether you are an experienced writer or just getting started, come find your voice and discover the storyteller in you! $100/person for a 10-wk course...
Runs Thursday, October 15, 2026 – Thursday, February 4, 2027 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education 525 Versailles Drive Centerville, OH 45459 Call all young writers and theatre lovers in grades 6-12! Join Jay Weiss for a fun, creative Writers Workshop, designed to help you bring your ideas to the stage. Explore storytelling, character development, dialogue, and the art of writing for theatre while creating your own original material. Whether you are an experienced writer or just getting started, come find your voice and discover the storyteller in you! $100/person for a 10-wk course...
Tuesday, February 9, 2027 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Via Zoom Rabbi Shira Stutman The Jewish Way to a Good Life: Find Happiness, Build Community, and Embrace Lovingkindness Drawing on 3,500 years of Jewish wisdom, Rabbi Shira Stutman offers a fresh, practical guide to living with greater purpose, joy, and connection. Rooted in the belief that life is both challenging and beautiful, Judaism provides timeless tools for becoming just a little better each day. Stutman shows that these teachings are not only for Jews but for anyone seeking meaning in a complex world. Exploring themes such as kindness, love, rest,...
Thursday, February 25, 2027 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Via Zoom Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank Two Minute Torah: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Thought For Every Day and Every Night Drawing on centuries of Jewish learning, Two Minute Torah makes ancient wisdom accessible through brief, thought-provoking reflections designed for modern life. Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank distills teachings from the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, and other sacred texts into daily readings that can be absorbed in just minutes yet resonate far beyond the page. Exploring themes of truth, integrity, faith, curiosity, relationships, and personal growth, the book reveals how timeless Jewish insights can...
Sunday, March 14, 2027 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Beth Jacob Synagogue 7020 North Main Street Dayton, OH 45415 Merryl Goldberg Notes of Deception: How a Quartet of American Musicians Outwitted the KGB At the height of the Cold War in 1985, four American musicians arrived in Moscow carrying more than instruments and sheet music. Members of the Klezmer Conservatory Band were recruited for a daring intelligence mission that relied on creativity rather than spy training. Under constant KGB surveillance, saxophonist Merryl Goldberg devised an ingenious method of concealing and transporting secret information through musical notation, turning performances into acts...
Sunday, March 14, 2027 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Camp Shalom is planning a night of camp fun! $18/person. RSVP by March 10. Questions? Contact Jennifer Holman at jholman@jfgd.net.
Sunday, April 11, 2027 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Centerville Public Library Community Room 111 West Spring Valley Road Centerville, OH 45458 Annabelle Gurwitz The End of My Life Is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker When Annabelle Gurwitch is unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, she refuses to follow the script of the inspirational survivor. Instead, she becomes a self-proclaimed “cancer slacker,” meeting fear and uncertainty with humor, honesty, and irreverence. As she navigates illness, mortality, and the flaws of the healthcare system, she finds comfort in unexpected places: mythology, comedy, friendship, small pleasures, and...
