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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Jewish Pop Culture

Actor Robert Redford relaxes in the Belle Meade Theater manager's office for the conclusion of the Nashville premiere of his "All the President's Men" movie June 10, 1976. 760610 H

Robert Redford’s legacy is surprisingly Jewish

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished September 16, 2025

Robert Redford, the actor, director and film festival visionary, has died at 89. Remembered for his ruddy good looks, accomplished pivot to directing and helping to usher the film industry into its independent era by spearheading the Sundance...

Two paintings believed to be by Ambrosius Bosschaert recovered by the Monuments Men and Women Foundation. (Courtesy Monuments Men and Women Foundation)

From Hitler’s headquarters to Ohio: Holocaust-looted art resurfaces

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished September 15, 2025

(JTA) — Two 17th-century paintings have been taken off the auction block after a Holocaust art restitution organization determined that they had been looted from a German Jew’s collection in France during World War II. The two paintings, believed...

Wanderers Production Photos NJT by Jon Gitchoff

Secrets, faith and marriage collide on this St. Louis stage

BY GERRY KOWARSKY, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished September 15, 2025

At New Jewish Theatre, “The Wanderers” drops audiences into two marriages on the edge — one inside Brooklyn’s cloistered Hasidic world, the other in the freewheeling literary scene — and asks how love survives when faith, ambition and desire...

Seth Rogen accepts the award for Lead Actor In A Comedy Series for The Studio at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Jewish talent shines big at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 14, 2025

Well, that was quite a show. The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards wrapped up at just after 10 p.m. Sunday and if there’s one thing we can say, it’s that Jewish performers, writers and creators had a serious moment on TV’s biggest night. There were...

The Jewish family secret hidden for generations comes to light

The Jewish family secret hidden for generations comes to light

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 14, 2025

When Clare Kinberg discovered her estranged Aunt Rose’s death certificate in 2016, she unlocked a family story that had been hidden for generations. That discovery became “By the Waters of Paradise: An American Story of Racism and Rupture in a...

Jerry Seinfeld performs during the 18th Annual Stand Up For Heroes Benefit Presented By Bob Woodruff Foundation And New York Comedy Festival at David Geffen Hall on November 11, 2024 in New York City. (Valerie Terranova/Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation)

Jerry Seinfeld compares pro-Palestinian protesters to KKK — Jewish lawmaker pushes back

Andrew Lapin, JTAPublished September 11, 2025

(JTA) — The Jewish lawmaker who followed Jerry Seinfeld on stage during an appearance at Duke University on Tuesday is decrying the comedian’s comments, in which he said pro-Palestinian protesters were worse than the Ku Klux Klan. “I condemn...

St. Louis artist’s haunting boxcar sculpture deepens Holocaust Museum cattle car exhibit

St. Louis artist’s haunting boxcar sculpture deepens Holocaust Museum cattle car exhibit

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 11, 2025

The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum’s immersive exhibition “Hate Ends Now: The Cattle Car Experience” runs Sept. 10–14. While organizers expect strong attendance, the Museum notes that plenty of tickets remain available for Saturday,...

bad shabbos

STL Jewish film festival alum ‘Bad Shabbos’ going digital after brisket-fueled success

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 10, 2025

We’ve been following the whirlwind success of "Bad Shabbos" since its debut at the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival in March. After making the leap to a wide release last month, the Tribeca Audience Award-winning comedy is now headed for its next...

Who was Moses Mendelssohn—and why did St. Louis care in 1979?

Who was Moses Mendelssohn—and why did St. Louis care in 1979?

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 9, 2025

One afternoon while digging through the Jewish Light archives, I stumbled upon a name I didn’t recognize—Moses Mendelssohn—in a full-page story spread from 1979. What grabbed me wasn’t the name at first, but the opening line by columnist H.H....

Taha Mandviwala as ‘Pi’ and puppeteers Anna Leigh Gortner, Shiloh Goodin and Toussaint Jeanlouis as ‘Richard Parker’ in the National Tour of ‘Life of Pi,’ which comes to the Fox Theatre in October.  Photo: Evan Zimmerman/MurphyMade

32 things every St. Louis Jew should do this September

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished September 9, 2025

The days are growing shorter, but 32 things every St. Louis Jew should do this September are just beginning to unfold. From the expanded Jewish Book Festival to live music, theater, festivals and art exhibits, the fall calendar is bursting with ways...

Peter Sellers 1973 by Allan Warren

Peter Sellers at 100: The hidden Jewish story behind the comedy icon

Benjamin Ivry, The ForwardPublished September 7, 2025

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. Peter Sellers, the English Jewish comedian who was born 100 years ago on Sept. 8, 1925, lived at a time before leading...

Visual arts teacher Ariel Bassano (L) stands next to a painting identified by Dutch newspaper AD as believed to be "Portrait of a Lady" by Italian baroque portraitist Giuseppe Ghislandi, stolen by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector, as it is displayed at the Public Prosecutor's Office in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on Sept. 3, 2025.(Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)

She tried to sell her Nazi father’s looted Jewish art. Then came the raid

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished September 4, 2025

(JTA) — After multiple failed attempts, Argentine police have recovered a painting that the Nazis looted from a Dutch Jewish art dealer during the Holocaust. Dutch journalists first spotted the painting, “Portrait of a Lady” by Giuseppe Ghislandi,...

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