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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

An image from 'Dear Jack, Dear Louise' at New Jewish Theatre. Photo: Jon Gitchoff

St. Louis Jewish couples spill their secrets to long, happy marriages

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 16, 2022

As Jewish Light critic Judith Newmark wrote in her recent review of the New Jewish Theatre's current production of "Dear Jack, Dear Louise": The audiences most apt to appreciate “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” are baby boomers, people whose parents lived...

What to consider when heading to the pool with children

What to consider when heading to the pool with children

DR. RICHARD LAZAROFFPublished June 15, 2022

Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning is a leading cause of death for children in the United States between the ages of 1 and 4? For children ages 1 to 14, it is the second leading cause of accidental death after motor...

The Oxford Annotated Mishnah is the product of 10 years of rigorous academic scholarship. (Image courtesy of Oxford University Press; design by Grace Yagel)

Price tag of new, ‘accessible’ Mishnah “a huge disappointment”

JACKIE HAJDENBERG, JTAPublished June 15, 2022

(JTA) — As an avid book collector who operates an independent Jewish press, Larry Yudelson was excited to learn that a new, annotated version of the Mishnah, the earliest compendium of Oral Torah, was on its way. Then he found out how much it would...

A case for why time loops are inherently Jewish

By Rachel Klein, Hey Alma!Published June 15, 2022
These cyclical stories, from "Russian Doll" to "Palm Springs," are the Jewish answer to the Christian apocalypse narrative.
Jewish Light Exclusive: Pivotal Israeli Prime Ministers Revisited In New Limited Series

Jewish Light Exclusive: Pivotal Israeli Prime Ministers Revisited In New Limited Series

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 15, 2022

All Jews of a certain age are well aware of Israel’s long history of great statesmen — from David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin, to Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon — as well as Golda Meir’s unlikely rise to power in the early 1970s.  For the...

A 1986 Mad magazine cover designed by Mort Drucker. Courtesy of DC Entertainment

Everything I learned about Jewish humor I learned from Mad magazine

By Jim Sullivan, The ForwardPublished June 14, 2022

I grew up in central Maine in the ’60s and ’70s, and while we weren’t exactly the Mayberry of the North — the fictional town of “The Andy Griffith Show” — if you were looking to find a nearly 100% all-white Catholic and Protestant enclave...

Cantor Seth Warner - Photo By Bill Motchan

Cantor Seth Warner to helm national cantorial association

Bill Motchan, Special For The Jewish LightPublished June 14, 2022

This month, Congregation Shaare Emeth Cantor Seth Warner will be installed as president of the American Conference of Cantors (ACC) for a three-year term. The Jewish Light recently checked in with Warner, 48, to learn more about the ACC, his work and...

The SpongeBob SquarePants theme song is now in Yiddish

The SpongeBob SquarePants theme song is now in Yiddish

JACKIE HAJDENBERG, JTAPublished June 13, 2022

(JTA) — Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? ShvomBob Kvadrat-hoyzn, of course. And now the Jewish world knows how to say “SpongeBob SquarePants” in Yiddish, thanks to a translation of the animated kid show’s theme song by Eddy Portnoy, the...

My bubbe told me to do this if I was "bored." Bet yours did too.

My bubbe told me to do this if I was “bored.” Bet yours did too.

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 13, 2022

It’s truly amazing how long it takes till you really understand your bubbe or at least a part of her, you took for granted. Since joining the Jewish Light, I’ve reflected on my own Jewish experience growing up, and part of that was the Yiddish,...

Billy Crytal

Billy Crystal performs ‘Yiddish scat’ at the Tony Awards

ANDREW LAPIN, JTAPublished June 13, 2022

(JTA) – “Ella Fitzgerald, wherever you are, I apologize in advance.” Billy Crystal gave this year’s Tonys a jolt of Jewish shtick when he coaxed the audience into a call-and-response “Yiddish scat” routine, as part of a live performance...

Sababa returns Sept. 18; musical lineup released

Sababa returns Sept. 18; musical lineup released

Published June 13, 2022

Sababa, the area’s largest Jewish arts and culture festival, will take place Sept. 18 at Andrew and Ann Tisch Park on the east entrance of the Washington University campus. “We are thrilled to announce that we have the opportunity to celebrate...

An image from 'Dear Jack, Dear Louise' at New Jewish Theatre. Photo: Jon Gitchoff

NJT review: Love at the speed of snail mail

JUDITH NEWMARK, Special to the Jewish LightPublished June 12, 2022

The audiences most apt to appreciate “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” are baby boomers, people whose parents lived through World War Two. But let’s hope that some of them bring their teenaged grandchildren along. They might be fascinated by the New Jewish...

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