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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

Books

Dr. Fran Levine brings women’s forgotten stories on the Santa Fe Trail come to life

Dr. Fran Levine brings women’s forgotten stories on the Santa Fe Trail come to life

Jordan Palmer, Special To The Jewish LightPublished December 9, 2024

Dr. Fran Levine is someone who knows a thing or two about history. As the former president and CEO of the Missouri Historical Society and Missouri History Museum, and the interim executive director of the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum in 2022,...

"Oy, Santa" is among the Hanukkah children's books that also deal with Christmas that have come out in 2024. (Collage by Joseph Strauss)

New Hanukkah children’s books highlight 2024’s rare Christmas overlap

Penny Schwartz, JTAPublished December 6, 2024

To celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, Max and Sophie, siblings in an interfaith family, bake up a batch of gingerbread dreidels. That’s the plot of a new children’s book out this year, but it could be a real-life occurrence this month, when the...

A carving of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on the facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Proponents of public displays of the decalogue say it has historical, not just religious, significance. (Steve Petteway/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)

The 10 Commandments, Christian nationalism and the Jewish future of church and state

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished June 30, 2024

One week after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom in the state, nine families — including three Jewish families — filed suit in federal court saying the law was...

Photo: Sharon Mccutcheon, Pexels

10 books to read before you visit Israel

Naama Barak, Israel21c.orgPublished March 27, 2024

Israel is one complex, complicated and fascinating place – and one definitely worth visiting, war permitting, of course. Should you be planning a visit here, whether now or a bit further down the line, we recommend you check out these top reads before...

In his new book, “Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent, 1948-1978,” he writes about an early, formative era before American Jewish institutions had unequivocally embraced Zionism, and when American Jewish leaders disagreed with the Israeli government over the fate of the 750,000 Palestinians displaced by Israel’s war for independence.

When ‘nice Jewish boys and girls’ first took up the cause of Palestinian rights

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished January 28, 2024

(JTA) — In the four months since the Hamas attacks on Israel touched off war in Gaza, Jewish protesters have joined demonstrations in the streets of New York, San Francisco and other cities condemning Israel and demanding an immediate ceasefire. But...

JCC Used Book Sale

9 things to know before attending the Winter Used Book Sale at the J

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished January 21, 2024

The St. Louis Jewish Community Center’s biannual Used Book Sale returns to the Staenberg Family Complex Arts & Education Building from Sunday, Jan. 28 – Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Patrons can once again stock up on a new selection of used reading...

(JTA collage by Mollie Suss)

The best Jewish books I read in 2023

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished December 31, 2023

(JTA) — When I spoke with novelist Elizabeth Graver in August about her novel “Kantika” — inspired by her own Turkish Jewish family — I asked her how she managed to breathe life into a tired genre like the Jewish family saga. “I want the...

Exploring American Jewish history through "Kugels & Collards"

Exploring American Jewish history through “Kugels & Collards”

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished November 27, 2023

Food can be a vehicle for telling stories, connecting with people, and understanding our history—including the uncomfortable parts. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Jen Richler heads to Charleston, South Carolina to learn about Southern Jewish history...

‘Maus,’ Nazi parallels and a Shylock reference make appearances at Senate hearing on book bans

‘Maus,’ Nazi parallels and a Shylock reference make appearances at Senate hearing on book bans

Published September 12, 2023

(JTA) – Nazi book burnings, antisemitic attacks on high school students and Shylock were all invoked during a Senate hearing on school book bans Tuesday morning.  The hearing brought to Capitol Hill the debate over how much control parents should...

Elon Musk doubted biblical miracles but loves Mel Brooks

Elon Musk doubted biblical miracles but loves Mel Brooks

By Benyamin Cohen, The ForwardPublished September 11, 2023

When Elon Musk was growing up in South Africa, his mother would take him to the local Anglican church, where she was a teacher. “It did not go well,” writes historian Walter Isaacson in a highly anticipated new biography of Musk due out on Tuesday.  Musk’s...

Roald Dahl signs books for children in Amsterdam on Oct. 12, 1988. Credit: Rob Bogaerts/Anefo via Wikimedia Commons.

Museum honoring author Roald Dahl updated to recognize his antisemitism

Published July 27, 2023

(JNS) -- “So shines a good deed in a weary world,” Gene Wilder whispered at the climax of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” the first of many film adaptations in a book collection that has now become canonical for generations of young readers. The...

Add one (or more) of these graphic novels to your summer reading list

Add one (or more) of these graphic novels to your summer reading list

Zia Saylor, Jewish Women's ArchivePublished July 25, 2023

This story was originally published on JWA.com This summer, my beach reads have taken a turn for the more picturesque. Tired after years of reading multiple books a semester in college, the text blurring as I highlighted yet another 100-page reading...

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