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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

Almost immortal Asner, Menzel, Celeb “Wheel,” Whale and Bellow

By Nate Bloom, Special to the Jewish LightPublished December 13, 2022

The animated film “Diary of a Whimpy Kid: Roderick Rules” began streaming on Dec. 2.  ED ASNER, who died in 2021 at age 91, has a starring (voice) role. Asner, a Kansas City native, loved to work and at the time of his death he had completed 10 TV...

5 of the best Jewish memoirs out right now!

5 of the best Jewish memoirs out right now!

BY ELLEN HARRIS, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished December 12, 2022

Is there anything better on chilly, dark winter days than cozying up with a mug of steaming hot chocolate and a good book? The Jewish authors of these five memoirs are introspective and candid. Two tell of guilt and shame. Two take us along their journeys...

As Time’s Person of the Year, Zelenskyy joins a short list of Jews, and a longer list of antisemites

As Time’s Person of the Year, Zelenskyy joins a short list of Jews, and a longer list of antisemites

PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished December 8, 2022

Gazing off with determination, or even a glimmer of hope on the cover, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with the “Spirit of Ukraine,” is the Time Person of the Year, joining an exclusive list of notable people and an even shorter list of Jews. Throughout...

Overwhelmed by glut of cookbooks? Here are suggestions for Hanukkah gifting—or keeping

Overwhelmed by glut of cookbooks? Here are suggestions for Hanukkah gifting—or keeping

By Margi Lenga Kahn, Special to the Jewish LightPublished December 7, 2022

Walk into any bookstore and you will be astonished by how much space is dedicated to cookbooks. Likewise, check out a library near you. The stacks are overflowing with cookbooks. It is wonderful and can be overwhelming. So, what makes a good cookbook...

Theodor Herzl diaries republished in ambitious new undertaking

Theodor Herzl diaries republished in ambitious new undertaking

By David Isaac, JNSPublished December 5, 2022

(JNS) “Today, Theodor Herzl is best known for his beard, not his books,” laments Gil Troy, editor of “The Zionist Writings of Theodor Herzl,” in his introductory essay to a new edition of Herzl’s diaries. Troy, a professor of history at Canada’s...

The sequel to the Holocaust novel ‘Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ is here

The sequel to the Holocaust novel ‘Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ is here

Published December 1, 2022

(JTA) – At one point in John Boyne’s new novel “All The Broken Places,” a 91-year-old German woman recalls, for the first time, her encounter with a young Jewish boy in the Auschwitz death camp 80 years prior. “I found him in the warehouse...

Leonard Cohen’s 1973 Yom Kippur War concerts to be dramatized in TV series by ‘Shtisel’ writer

Gabe Friedman, JTAPublished November 28, 2022

(JTA) — Leonard Cohen’s momentous trip to the Sinai Desert to perform for Israeli soldiers in the wake of the Yom Kippur War is being turned into a dramatized TV series. “Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai” will be written by Yehonatan...

New lending library to keep Holocaust books banned in St. Louis, available

New lending library to keep Holocaust books banned in St. Louis, available

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished November 17, 2022

The Anti-Defamation League, Heartland, which provides services to Southern Illinois, Missouri, and Eastern Kansas is partnering with the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis in response to some St. Louis area schools banning several Holocaust books,...

Some St. Louis area schools ban several Holocaust books, including ‘Maus’

ANDREW LAPINPublished November 16, 2022

(JTA) – Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” along with six books about the Holocaust geared toward young readers, are among the hundreds of books that a handful of school districts in Missouri have reportedly removed from their shelves since the start of...

Pence defends Trump’s ‘both sides’ comments and record on antisemitism

By Jacob Kornbluh, The ForwardPublished November 14, 2022

Much of Mike Pence’s forthcoming memoir focuses on the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and former President Donald Trump’s rift with him over certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. In “So Help Me God,” set for release on Tuesday,...

Inspired by Elijah, Jeremiah, and Bob Dylan, Bono embraces the Jewish roots of his Christian faith

By Seth Rogovoy, The ForwardPublished November 10, 2022

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story By Bono Knopf, 577 pages, $34 Bono would like you to know who he sat with over the years. “I am sitting on Harry Belafonte’s bed.” “We’re sitting with Rupert Murdoch …” “I was sitting in Renards...

Netanyahu autobiography is fascinating, timely read

Netanyahu autobiography is fascinating, timely read

ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief EmeritusPublished November 10, 2022

“Bibi: My Story” by Benjamin Netanyahu, Simon & Schuster, 724 pages, $35 Mark Twain’s famous response to the premature publication of his obituary — “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” accurately describes the political...

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