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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

Do you know this Jew? If you don't know her face, you sure know her voice

Do you know this Jew? If you don’t know her face, you sure know her voice

Deborah Schneider, Jewish Women’s ArchivePublished March 30, 2022

(JWA) -- Long before her final role as the grouchy bailiff on Night Court, Selma Diamond earned a reputation behind the scenes as a brilliant, salty comedy writer for some of the best shows on radio and television. Diamond began writing jokes...

A Jewish art exhibit at Princeton was canceled over ties to the Confederacy. Jewish scholars are outraged.

ANDREW LAPIN, JTAPublished March 29, 2022

(JTA) — Princeton University spent months planning an exhibit of 19th-century American Jewish art before cancelling the show because two of its featured artists had supported the Confederacy. The cancellation has drawn criticism from the exhibit’s...

Excerpt from new book that’s ‘Game of Thrones’ meets ‘Fiddler on the Roof’

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished March 29, 2022
Mark Levenson's novel takes readers to a world they’ve never entered before: a world in which the vast sweep of Jewish myth and magic is completely real.
Dirty Dishes? Overcooked brisket? Don't sweat the small stuff

Dirty Dishes? Overcooked brisket? Don’t sweat the small stuff

BARBARA BALLINGER AND MARGARET CRANE, Special For The Jewish LightPublished March 29, 2022

At a time when we have so much to worry about as war wages on in Ukraine and so many are killed and displaced, we try to limit our whining and complaining. This is especially true with those whom we interact most such as our family members and closest...

Danielle Finn, the Modern Orthodox high schooler continues her "American Idol" journey for her 'poppy'

Danielle Finn, the Modern Orthodox high schooler continues her “American Idol” journey for her ‘poppy’

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished March 29, 2022

Danielle Finn wowed America and Jews everywhere Monday night as the Modern Orthodox singer from Los Angeles continued her journey on American Idol Season 20's Hollywood Week episode, in which contestants chose their favorite genre in which to compete. Finn,...

Jewish comedians react to the ‘slap heard round the world’ at 94th Academy Awards

Published March 29, 2022

(JNS) When Will Smith jumped up on stage at the Academy Awards on Sunday night to approach fellow comedian and actor Chris Rock, the host of the show, many in the audience assumed it was staged. After all, physicality is part of show business. Several...

The Jewish jazz master who Hunter S. Thompson thought could cure any ailment

Dan Epstein, The ForwardPublished March 29, 2022

This story was originally published on March 28 by the Forward. Sign up here to get the latest stories from the Forward delivered to you each morning. I first met Herbie Mann in January 1979, when I noticed him bursting out of a phone booth in the...

Coen classics, and what else watch this week in Jewish entertainment

Dan Buffa, Special For The Jewish LightPublished March 29, 2022

The only thing talked about after last night's 94th Academy Awards was the slap heard around the world. I won't bore you with my take on Will Smith getting out of his seat to walk onstage and smack presenter Chris Rock after a poor taste joke directed...

First Chassidic woman judge rules on some smart Jewish kids

First Chassidic woman judge rules on some smart Jewish kids

Faygie Levy Holt, Chabad.orgPublished March 27, 2022

(Chabad.org) -- Fourth-grader Avery McMullen of Haverford, Pa., loves to learn, and says language arts is her favorite subject. But it was her knowledge of Judaism that propelled her to the head of the class in an international Jewish competition for...

Alice Walker, author of “The Color Purple, disinvited from a Bay area book festival for anti-Israel views

Andrew Esenten, Jweekly.comPublished March 27, 2022

The Bay Area Book Festival has rescinded an invitation to author Alice Walker over incendiary statements she has made over the years about Jews and Israel. Alice Walker Walker had been invited to interview writer Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, at Jeffers’...

Golda Meir, reconsidered through a feminist lens

Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21cPublished March 27, 2022

If state-subsidized daycare is still a distant dream in most countries, it was a truly radical idea in the 1930s, when few mothers worked outside the home. Yet that was when this social service was pioneered in Palestine. Jewish women needed safe and...

St. Louisans have access to new video series exploring the most enduring antisemitic tropes

St. Louisans have access to new video series exploring the most enduring antisemitic tropes

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished March 27, 2022

If it feels like you're reading about a new incident of antisemitism or attempts to rewrite the history of the Holocaust by changing laws through, as one Jewish lawmaker described, “draconian Holocaust censorship bills," you are correct. The...

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