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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 Books

A fair case for ‘The Staircase?’

A fair case for ‘The Staircase?’

Alan Zeitlin, JNSPublished May 24, 2022

(JNS) David Rudolf is one of the most heralded defense attorneys in America with numerous awards. More importantly, he says, is that he has helped fight for innocent people and tried to make sure that everyone gets a fair trial. “That’s a central...

A Rothschild who debunks conspiracy theories for a living is writing the book about Jewish space lasers

A Rothschild who debunks conspiracy theories for a living is writing the book about Jewish space lasers

Asaf Shalev, JTAPublished May 23, 2022

(JTA) — To a conspiracy theorist, last week seemed to offer evidence that the Rothschild family is plotting to undermine Elon Musk. It started when the Tesla tycoon bashed the Democratic Party and said in a tweet that he would switch to voting Republican....

The ‘queer, disabled’ Zionist who challenged the conventions of Israel’s founders

The ‘queer, disabled’ Zionist who challenged the conventions of Israel’s founders

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished May 22, 2022

(JTA) — It’s hard to find a poster promoting early 20th-century Zionism that doesn’t depict a tanned, chiseled man toting a shovel or a gun. The posters were visual reinforcement of the “Muscle Jewry” valued by Max Nordau and other early Zionist...

New partnership bringing renowned authors to the J

New partnership bringing renowned authors to the J

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished May 19, 2022

Book lovers and those who fully appreciate the craft of book writing are in for a treat, as a new partnership between the St. Louis County Library and the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, will keep the Library's author series going, during the construction...

St. Louisan Jessica Radloff pens "tell-all" book about "The Big Bang Theory" sitcom

St. Louisan Jessica Radloff pens “tell-all” book about “The Big Bang Theory” sitcom

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished May 17, 2022

On May 1, 2019, Glamour magazine's West Coast Editor and St. Louis native Jessica Radloff posted this picture on Facebook, from the set of "The Big Bang Theory." "This is all I’m allowed to...

We're honoring Jewish American Heritage Month with our list of 10 from St. Louis

We’re honoring Jewish American Heritage Month with our list of 10 from St. Louis

Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 13, 2022

In 2006, May was proclaimed Jewish American Heritage Month, which pays tribute to Jewish Americans who helped form the fabric of American history, culture, and society. Throughout U.S. history, Jewish St. Louisans have made significant contributions to...

How Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Joshua Cohen mines the Israeli-American relationship for comedy and tragedy

How Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Joshua Cohen mines the Israeli-American relationship for comedy and tragedy

ADAM KIRSCHPublished May 11, 2022

(JTA) — For many younger Jews, being critical of Israel is itself a form of attachment. They may not consider themselves answerable to the Jewish state, but they definitely feel answerable for it in the eyes of the world. The same is true of some Jewish...

New Truman bio offers balanced perspective on his presidency

New Truman bio offers balanced perspective on his presidency

ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief EmeritusPublished May 4, 2022

In his superbly written new biography, “The Trials of Harry S. Truman,” Jeffrey Frank, a Presidential historian, avoids both adulation and harsh judgment of the Man from Missouri. For admirers and skeptics of HST, Frank, who previously wrote about...

Cindy Levin. Photo: Bill Motchan

Advocacy leader’s work inspires others to become activists

BILL MOTCHAN, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 4, 2022

If you’ve ever signed a petition, written a letter to the editor or marched for a cause you believe in, you participated in a form of advocacy. It’s an act of free speech that can help call attention to important issues. Cindy Levin has made advocacy...

Jennifer Grey knows you care about her nose

PJ Grisar, THE FORWARDPublished May 4, 2022

In her new memoir, Jennifer Grey leads with her nose. For the first 29 years of her life, the “Dirty Dancing” star’s trademark proboscis was her pesky “friend,”  demanding three-quarter profile headshots. It was the feature that prompted her...

56 hidden letters unearth one woman's unknowable Holocaust past

56 hidden letters unearth one woman’s unknowable Holocaust past

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished April 27, 2022

(JWA) - After a career spent telling other people's stories, Eleanor Reissa has finally uncovered her own. In 1986, when her mother died at the age of sixty-four, Eleanor went through all of her belongings. In the back of her mother’s lingerie drawer,...

From the left: Moishe (Morris), Mailekh (Marcel), and Khil (Harry) Lenga in either Rome or Stuttgart, circa 1945. Lenga family collection.

St. Louisan Harry Lenga beat the Nazis by fixing watches to survive

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished April 26, 2022

On this, Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), we honor the victims, remember the survivors, and educate the community about the history and lessons of the Holocaust. One such story has become a book, which will be released later this summer.  "The...

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