For the first time in its 20-year history, Birthright has had to postpone all of its trips to Israel since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wanting to engage past participants and interest potential future participants, the organization developed an...

An urban executive with very little Jewish education started studying with a rabbi. He had been encouraged by one of his peers to give it a try and Torah study soon became a high point in his week. This encounter with his heritage boosted his Jewish self-esteem...

In my 51 years of association with the Jewish Light, I have covered or editorialized countless major events, including the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the successful struggle for Soviet Jewry, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, 9/11 and so many more.  Seldom...

While channel surfing earlier this year, Shelley Dean came upon a show called something like “Bubbe Knows Best.” Maybe that wasn’t the exact title, but Dean realized that the show was on Jewish Life Television (JLTV), a 24-hour, Jewish-themed television...

There is simplicity and an unspoken elegance inherent in most comfort foods. Every culture has them. They are the foods that console us and make us feel good.Here in America, popular comfort foods include gooey mac ’n’ cheese, beef stew with noodles...

Recent awakening to the racism that has plagued the St. Louis region for so long is a seismic event. With crisis comes opportunity. We must not let this moment pass without it spurring action to eradicate the deep racial divides in St. Louis.The Jewish...

There is a powerful tale found in the Palestinian Talmud, Tractate Baba Metzia (2:5), that has much to teach us about the quest for and cultivation of Mensclichkeit – “transcendent humanity” – which I believe is the primary purpose of the month...

Although we are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible during this pandemic, that course of action isn’t safe for domestic violence victims—the vast majority of whom are women, children, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Data over the past six months...

I don’t know about you, but I look forward to the day when it will be safe to go back to a theater to see a play or dance performance, hear music or watch a film. In the meantime, here’s a “healthy” alternative: a drive-in movie at the J’s Staenberg...

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology, was thoroughly secular in his professed beliefs and practices. Throughout his writings he expresses a marked disdain, if not outright hostility, toward all religions, including Judaism. “Religion is a universal...

If you’ve ever dreamed of hanging out with A-list actors Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) or Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”), now’s your big chance. And, as an added bonus, you’d also be helping small professional theater companies in the process.The...

My friends are worried about me. They know that my husband, Ken, and I normally … Ha! What is normal? We go out almost every night to a play, a poetry reading, a ballet, a music event, a museum and so on. How are the Kranzbergs adjusting to the new...