Charges Filed After Coordinated Harassment of Yeshiva Students in Golf Manor
Jackson Mettler, 19, of Springboro, appeared before a judge on Wednesday morning following a May 4 incident in which prosecutors say he targeted students at Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati, an Orthodox Jewish high school on Section Road.
A Sacred Partnership: Adath Israel Formally Installs Rabbi Scott Shafrin
The sanctuary at Adath Israel was filled with a palpable sense of renewal on Shabbat, April 18, as the congregation gathered for the formal installation of Rabbi Scott Shafrin as its next Senior Rabbi. Succeeding Rabbi Moshe Smolkin, Rabbi Shafrin’s installation was more than a formal transition of power; it was described by congregants as a “lifecycle moment,” marking a new chapter of growth and communal connection.
Mimouna: One More Night
The moment Passover ends, something different happens in parts of the Jewish world. Homes open up, people start coming and going, and the night turns into something that feels like an extension of the holiday rather than the end of it.
Mimouna is a Moroccan Jewish tradition that takes place right after Passover. Friends, family, and neighbors stop by throughout the evening. There’s no real formality to it. You show up, you’re welcomed in, you eat, you talk, you stay as long as you want. The kitchen is active again after a full week of restrictions, and we make mufletta, a quick, easy, slightly oily flatbread, hot off the pan and gone just as fast. Tables are filled with sweets, nuts, pastries, and anything that brings a sense of abundance back into the home.
Cincinnati Turns Out for Jewish Comic Modi
If there was any doubt about the vitality of the Cincinnati Jewish community, Thursday night’s turnout for the comedian Modi put it to rest. In what has become a recurring trend of successful Jewish acts visiting the Queen City, the local comedy club was pushed to its literal and figurative limits.
University of Cincinnati Kicks Off Shifting Paradigms
On Sunday, April 19th, the University of Cincinnati (UC) chose to lean into complexity rather than retreat from it. The kickoff of “Shifting Paradigms,” a three-day conference, served as more than just an academic gathering; it was a powerful reminder that constructive, nuanced conversation about the Middle East can still thrive on a modern campus. Hosted by UC and supported by the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, the Academic Engagement Network, and the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the event brought together diplomats, scholars, and local leaders to examine the Abraham Accords not as a static historical moment, but as a transformative pivot toward a new regional future.
Yom HaShoah Commemoration Calls Community to Remember—and to Speak
In a city where history is not merely preserved but actively told, the Yom HaShoah Community Commemoration on Sunday, April 12, at the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center offered a solemn and necessary charge: remembrance must be honest enough to include not only the crimes of perpetrators, but the silence of those who stood by.
Cincinnati 2030 Refocused: Choosing Jewish Cincinnati
For many Jewish communities across the United States, the central challenge is no longer building institutions. It is providing clear pathways for engagement with them. That dilemma was the driving force behind the March 10th gathering at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center (JCC), where more than 100 leaders convened for a program titled “Cincinnati 2030 Refocused: From Aspiration to Action.” Leading the talk were Danielle Minson, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, and Brian Jaffee, CEO of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati—two institutions that, as Jaffee put it plainly, “are the two main institutional funders of this Jewish community.”
Iran Is Not a Debate For the Persian Jews of Cincinnati
For many Jewish Cincinnatians, Iran exists as a headline—another distant conflict, another geopolitical problem to be debated and then set aside. For Persian Jews of Cincinnati, it is something else entirely. It is memory. It is exile. And for some, it is a home they can never return to.
Antisemitism Legislation Passes at Miami University
In February, Hillel at Miami University hosted an event in partnership with Ghana Student Association and the Nigerian Student Association called Spread Cream Cheese Not Hate in the Armstrong Student Center. We wanted to invite other groups on campus that experienced hate to stand beside us in our call to share unity and peace on campus. Our goal was to collect as many signatures as possible from Miami students who want to stand up against hate on campus. We provided bagels and cream cheese and created space for conversation about the campus climate, what to do if someone witnesses hate, and how to be an upstander. The event was a great success, with more than 100 signatures collected. Thousands of students walked by our table, and the effort reached thousands more through views, likes, and reposts on social media.
CAIR Leader’s Graphic ‘Skin Bank’ Rant Rocks Ohio Senate During Antisemitism Hearing
ebruary 18th saw the continuation of the second legislative attempt to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism into state law. The hearing for Senate Bill 87 drew a wave of dissent, consisting of 67 testimonies from a broad coalition including the ACLU of Ohio, Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and the Ohio Poor People’s Campaign.
The dissenters opposed the formal codification of the IHRA definition, which is currently in practice via Executive Order 2022-06D, issued by Governor Mike DeWine. While DeWine’s order required state agencies and public universities to adopt the definition following a surge of antisemitic incidents, the order is set to expire at the conclusion of his term. Proponents of SB 87 argue that without codification, the protection of Jewish Ohioans remains at the mercy of future governors’ discretion. If enacted, Ohio would join at least 37 other states that have already codified the definition.