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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

Putting your old jeans to good use and learning some Jewish history, too

Putting your old jeans to good use and learning some Jewish history, too

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished April 13, 2023

Supporting women every day is just part of the shared missions of the National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis, and Procure at City Foundry STL. Procure is a new type of shopping experience that supports a collection of small, women-owned brands. The...

A Jewish parents guide to teaching your child key lessons about money

A Jewish parents guide to teaching your child key lessons about money

BY NINA NEEDLEMAN, Special To The Jewish LightPublished April 12, 2023

When I was a financial planner, we helped individuals and families address their sequential financial needs and priorities at each stage of their lifecycle.  There are three major stages of one’s financial lifecycle: 1) Learning years –birth to-age...

Cartoonist Al Jaffee at the New York Comic Convention in Manhattan, October 9, 2010.
Photo by Luigi Novi. This photo may be used, modified and published for any purpose, only if a easily visible credit to the photographer is placed near the photo in each instance in which it is used.

Al Jaffee, iconic Mad Magazine cartoonist, dies at 102

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished April 11, 2023

(JTA) — Perhaps the greatest influence on Al Jaffee, known to readers of Mad Magazine as the creator of the “Fold-In,” was the time he spent living in a Lithuanian shtetl as a child. Jaffee had been born in Savannah, Georgia, but returned to...

Everything you need to know about the new 2023 Mah Jongg card

Everything you need to know about the new 2023 Mah Jongg card

PHILIPPE & JULIE OF ILOVEMAHJ.COMPublished April 10, 2023

Well, time flies, doesn't it? Here we are again, at the start of the American Mah Jongg year, and it's time to learn the new 2023 National Mah Jongg League card. Just when we were all getting comfortable and feeling as though we'd finally mastered the...

Ari Nagel, father of over 130 kids. Image from “The Baby Daddy” filmed by Yair Cymerman and Adi Rabinovici

Film follows Jewish serial sperm donor Ari Nagel, father of 130

By Naama Barak, Israel21cPublished April 10, 2023

For an Israeli filmmaking couple, the decision to create a documentary of Ari Nagel, the infamous “Sperminator” who’s fathered more than 130 kids, came from a deeply personal debate. “I think that as a couple living in Israel who’ve reached...

This Week In Mah Jongg: Understanding the Card

This Week In Mah Jongg: Understanding the Card

PHILIPPE & JULIE OF ILOVEMAHJ.COM, Special To The Jewish LightPublished April 10, 2023

Welcome to the next installment of our Beginner's Guide to this wonderful game presented by I Love Mahj! Last week you were introduced to the 152 tiles that make up an American Mah Jongg set. This week we'll focus on the Official Standard Hands and...

First show in new "Steve Woolf Studio Theatre Series" debuting Friday

First show in new “Steve Woolf Studio Theatre Series” debuting Friday

JUDITH NEWMARK, Special to the Jewish LightPublished April 10, 2023

Becks Redman wishes she had had a chance to get to know Stephen Woolf. “We only met once or twice,” explained Redman, co-associate artistic director of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and its director of new play development. She joined the Rep...

Molly Burris (left) and Joan Lipkin

Joan Lipkin, NJT’s Molly Burris win St. Louis Theater Circle Awards

Published April 10, 2023

Molly Burris received the 2023 St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Outstanding Performer in a Comedy, Female or Non-Binary Role, for her work in the New Jewish Theatre’s production of “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” last June. The epistolary comedy...

Photo Courtesy of ESPN.

ESPN looks at tension between Jewish Day school athletics and religious observance

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished April 10, 2023

The motto of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Boys Cross Country team (JDS) in Rockville, Maryland is “Nothing great comes easy," and that motto speaks volumes. You see the students at JDS are practicing Jews who must observe the Sabbath from...

From left, Abdallah El Akal and Stephen Dorff in the Israeli film ‘Zaytoun,’ which is part of Temple Israel’s 15th annual Israeli Film Festival. Photo: Eitan Riklis/Strand Releasing

Temple Israel plans Israeli Film Festival

Published April 6, 2023

On Sunday, April 30, the community is invited to Congregation Temple Israel’s 15th Annual Israeli Film Festival, from 3:30 to 8 p.m. Enjoy two Israeli films and Israeli-style refreshments and a presentation all about modern life in Israel during intermission.  The...

Five questions for science comedian Ben Miller coming to Helium comedy club

Five questions for science comedian Ben Miller coming to Helium comedy club

BILL MOTCHAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished April 6, 2023

Jewish stand-up comedian Ben Miller works in a somewhat unusual genre of comedy. He uses science as the jumping-off point. This makes sense, since the New York-based comedian entered the entertainment industry after earning a science degree from Columbia...

"West Covina" from "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

The crazy-ex girlfriend audio Haggadah

Esther D. Kustanowitz and Erin Ben-Moche, The BagelsPublished April 4, 2023

After years of analyzing Rachel Bloom’s musical sitcom “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” we have created this audio Passover Haggadah filled with songs from the show. It comes with rules, of course. In this episode, Erin and Esther carefully considered...

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