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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 History

Image courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society and the Library of Congress.

When Harry Houdini came to St. Louis

by Andrew Wanko | Public HistorianPublished March 20, 2023

Mention “Erich Weiss,” to a random St. Louisan, and you’re likely to get a shrug. But use Erich Weiss’s more famous adopted name—Harry Houdini—and you’ll get a different reaction. The most famous magician in history, Harry Houdini’s image...

The Nazis made the yellow badge infamous around the world, but its roots are much older. Roger Viollet/Getty Images

Wash U professor traces the long history of antisemitic badges

Flora Cassen, Washington University in St LouisPublished March 16, 2023

Growing up in Belgium, I’d hear the story of how my grandparents married during the Nazi occupation. It was not a time for celebrations, particularly for Jewish families like theirs. Naively, though, they thought marriage would protect them from being...

Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha Van Leer pose at the opening night of the musical "Between The Lines," July 11, 2022 in New York City. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)

Florida school bans Holocaust novel by Jodi Picoult, other Jewish authors too

Andrew Lapin, JTAPublished March 13, 2023

(JTA) – A Holocaust-themed novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult was among dozens of books removed from a South Florida school district library’s circulation last month, in the latest example of books with Jewish themes getting swept up amid a...

Undertanding "The Jews of Summer"

Undertanding “The Jews of Summer”

Rebecca Brenner Graham, Special To The Jewish LightPublished March 9, 2023

As a child growing up in a predominantly Protestant town, I was never heavily involved in the Jewish community, and instead chose to attend an all-girls YMCA camp five years in a row. Back at home in Rhode Island, I opted out of starting Hebrew study...

Applications being accepted for Holocaust education funding

Applications being accepted for Holocaust education funding

Published March 8, 2023

The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum announced the opening of the spring funding cycle for the Rubin and Gloria Feldman Family Educational Institute to promote Holocaust education. Interested individuals and organizations can apply for funds...

A gravestone in a Louisiana cemetery for Louis Moses Rose, said to be the sole survivor of the Alamo. Photo by O. Thomas Welch

Was a Jewish soldier the only man to get out of the Alamo alive?

By Beth Harpaz, The ForwardPublished March 7, 2023

Remember the Alamo? The storied battle took place during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. Frontiersman Davy Crockett was among 200 men holed up in an old Spanish mission used as a fort during a 13-day siege by thousands of Mexican soldiers....

An academic paper found that a dedicated group has for some 15 years manipulated Wikipedia in ways that lay blame for the Holocaust on Jews and absolve Poland of almost any responsibility for its record of antisemitism. (JTA illustration)

Wikipedia’s ‘Supreme Court’ tackles alleged conspiracy to distort articles on Holocaust

Asaf Elia-Shalev, JTAPublished February 28, 2023

(JTA) — When a pair of professors earlier this month published a paper accusing a group of Wikipedia editors from Poland of revising articles to distort the history of the Holocaust, their research went viral. Most academic articles are seen by dozens...

The story behind this letter sent by Zygmunt Pociecha from Auschwitz to his mother

The story behind this letter sent by Zygmunt Pociecha from Auschwitz to his mother

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished February 26, 2023

Artifacts are tangible pieces of history that can tell a unique, often personal, story.  Nearly all of the artifacts at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum have been donated by survivors, their descendants, veterans and others since the museum...

A depiction of Queen Esther. Photo: Wikimedia Commons  

Understanding and appreciating the amazing story of Queen Esther

By Sidnie White Crawford and Updated by Joshua Aaron AlfaroPublished February 24, 2023

In the biblical book named after her, Esther is a young Jewish woman living in the Persian diaspora who finds favor with the king, becomes queen, and risks her life to save the Jewish people from destruction when the court official Haman persuades the...

Codex Sassoon (late ninth to early 10th century). Credit: Courtesy of Sotheby's.

Oldest known copy of a Hebrew Bible could fetch $50 million at auction

By Adam Kovac, The ForwardPublished February 15, 2023

The oldest known copy of the Hebrew Bible could soon be yours for the low price of $30 million. The Codex Sassoon, which dates to around the year 900, is composed of all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, including the punctuation, vowels and accents that...

American actor David Duchovny during halftime between the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

David Duchovny takes a deep dive into his Jewish heritage on ‘Finding Your Roots’

By Adam Kovac, The ForwardPublished February 15, 2023

The truth about David Duchovny’s very Yiddish background is out there. On Tuesday, the X-Files actor sat down to learn more about his ancestry on the PBS program Finding Your Roots. While Duchovny’s Jewish history is no secret, the show took a...

Ho Feng-Shan poses for a photo taken while he was a Chinese consul during World War II. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

This diplomat saved Jewish lives but new novel raises questions about facts vs. fiction in Holocaust stories

Jordyn Haime, JTAPublished February 14, 2023

TAIPEI (JTA) — Ho Feng-Shan, the Chinese diplomat stationed in Vienna who helped thousands of Jews escape from Europe during World War II, never met Adolf Eichmann. But in “Night Angels,” a novel based on his life, Feng-Shan comes face to face...

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