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 History

The historical drama ‘The Zone of Interest’ focuses on the SS Nazi Commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss  who lives with his family in a home next to the concentration camp.

‘Zone of Interest’ producer calls Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech a ‘distraction,’ as Auschwitz memorial defends it

Andrew Lapin, JTAPublished March 17, 2024

(JTA) — A Jewish executive producer of the Oscar-winning Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest” said he disagreed with director Jonathan Glazer’s speech at the Academy Awards ceremony criticizing Israel, while the Auschwitz Memorial issued a statement...

Neidorff family hosts Pulitzer winning author on Pope Pius XII and Hitler for vitural event

Neidorff family hosts Pulitzer winning author on Pope Pius XII and Hitler for vitural event

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished March 10, 2024

In late October 1941, a bishop in Slovakia wrote to Pope Pius XII  to alert him that the country’s Jews “are simply being shot, systematically murdered, without distinction of sex or age.” This was the first credible account of the pope learning...

St. Louis premiere of Four Winters unveils Jewish womens armed resistance during Holocaust

St. Louis premiere of ‘Four Winters’ unveils Jewish women’s armed resistance during Holocaust

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished March 4, 2024

For more than a decade, filmmaker Julia Mintz meticulously crafted her award-winning documentary “Four Winters” to challenge existing myths surrounding Jewish survival during World War II, offering a new and differing portrayal...

This week in Israeli history: Feb. 29-March 6

This week in Israeli history: Feb. 29-March 6

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished February 29, 2024

Feb. 29, 1948 — Lehi Bombs Cairo-Haifa Train Lehi militants use mines to bomb train cars carrying British troops on the Cairo-Haifa rail line north of Rehovot, killing at least 27 soldiers. Targeting the troop cars in back spares the civilians in...

Found diary helps retell tragedy of SS St. Louis victims in new graphic novel

Found diary helps retell tragedy of SS St. Louis victims in new graphic novel

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished February 21, 2024

The story of the SS St. Louis is a tragic chapter in the history of the Holocaust. The St. Louis was a German ocean liner carrying 937 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in 1939. The ship sought asylum in Cuba but was denied entry. It then attempted...

In a scene from The Devils Confession, someone sets up the recorder to listen to a tape. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Exclusive screening of “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes” coming to St. Louis

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished February 19, 2024

Last February, "The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes,” a three-part documentary series, began airing on Prime Video. What made this series different from others on Adolph Eichmann was its use of newly available audio of Eichmann recorded...

A bas-relief of Maimonides, sculpted by Brenda Putnam, hangs in the U.S. House of Representatives among statues of historical lawmakers. Architect of the Capitol/Wikimedia

Unlocking and understanding Maimonides

Randy L. Friedman, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkPublished February 19, 2024

I teach a philosophy of religion seminar titled “Faith and Reason.” Most students who register arrive with a mistaken assumption: that the course explores the differences between the two. “Faith” is often defined as belief in a supernatural...

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and Jordan’s King Hussein shake hands in front of U.S. President Bill Clinton after signing their peace treaty Oct. 26, 1994, in the Arava. By Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

This week in Israeli history: Jan. 31 to Feb. 7

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished January 31, 2024

Jan. 31, 1922 — Hebrew ‘Dybbuk’ Opens in Moscow The Hebrew version of “The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds” begins its successful stage run at Moscow’s Habimah Theater. Written in Russian and then Yiddish by S. Ansky and translated into Hebrew...

Missouri schools transform Holocaust education with innovative pilot program

Missouri schools transform Holocaust education with innovative pilot program

Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished January 25, 2024

As Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches on Jan. 27, a cross-section of Missouri schools are using a new framework for Holocaust education. The pilot program of up to 25 school districts is the result of legislation signed into law by Governor Mike Parson...

How to watch the much anticipated Symphony of the Holocaust documentary

How to watch the much anticipated ‘Symphony of the Holocaust’ documentary

Published January 18, 2024

The much-anticipated “Symphony of the Holocaust” documentary World Premiere about child prodigy violinist and Holocaust Survivor Shony Alex Braun’s inspiring life and final wish being fulfilled in 2023, will be held on Saturday, January 27, 2024,...

How St. Louis Holocaust Museum is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day

How St. Louis’ Holocaust Museum is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Published January 18, 2024

Each year on Jan. 27, the world commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet soldiers. This year, the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum is planning a weekend-long...

Alanis Morissette shown on PBS celebrity genealogy series Finding Your Roots. (Screenshot from YouTube)

Understanding Alanis Morissette’s Jewish roots will enhance St. Louis’ experience of her music

Jacob Gurvis, JTAPublished January 2, 2024

Before the Broadway musical “Jagged Little Pill,” based on Alanis Morissette’s music, arrives at the Fabulous Fox Jan. 19-21, and prior to her performance at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre slated for July 23, audiences can learn more about the...

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