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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

Passover

By Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose

Powerful Passover seder connects us with our ancestors

By Rabbi Carnie Shalom RosePublished April 11, 2019

Without question, the night of the Passover seder is among the most powerful experiences of the entire year. We daven, sing, eat, discuss, debate and methodically make our way through the Haggadah and a long night filled with rituals, customs and practices...

4 hacks to make your Passover seder more fun

By Emily Aronoff Teck, Kveller via JTAPublished April 11, 2019

No joke: I love hosting the Passover seder.I love feeding people — I’m both Jewish and Southern, so this is deeply engrained in me. I love educating people, and I love being Jewish, so the seder is a perfect opportunity to gather the ones I love for...

Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health Coach, is a longtime fitness instructor at the Jewish Community Center. She is also a member of the St. Louis Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Fitness blog: Why do we recline at the seder?

By Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health CoachPublished April 11, 2019

We have been hosting first-night seder on Pesach for more years than I can even recall. Sometimes we have a crowd around our limited-seating dining room table, and other years have been more intimate. However, it never fails that something will always...

Tibor, left, and Livia Horovitz are Holocaust survivors from Hungary. Photo: Josefin Dolsten

A seder for Holocaust survivors brings joy, food and some good ol’ kvetching

Josefin DolstenPublished April 4, 2019

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. (JTA) — Nine years ago, Ellen Grossman wanted to do something special for her birthday.“I said we’ve had enough parties and enough pocketbooks and enough jewelry — do something different,” the Great Neck resident recalled.So...

(Collage by Lior Zaltzman)

A ‘Sesame Street’ seder and 4 other new children’s books for Passover

Penny SchwartzPublished March 28, 2019

BOSTON (JTA) — Four questions. Four cups of wine. Four types of children. At Passover, the number four figures prominently in the rituals of the seder, the ceremonial holiday meal that can be mesmerizing and mystifying.Four new delightful and brightly...

5 Haggadahs and other Passover supplements to modernize your seder this year

Gabe FriedmanPublished March 20, 2018

(JTA) — Although Jews have celebrated Passover by reading from the Haggadah in one form or another for 2,000 years, Jewish organizations and publishers strive each year to connect the holiday to modern times with fresh Haggadahs as well as supplements.If...

10 easy tips to avoid a boring seder

By Rebecca Rosenthal, Kveller via JTAPublished April 6, 2017

If your Passover seder is anything like mine, it can resemble the world’s most difficult classroom: different ages, ranging from 3 to 93, and varying levels of interest. Some want to read and discuss every word in the Haggadah, some just want to get...

This year my Passover seder will be at Wrigley Field

Molly TolskyPublished April 6, 2017

The writer, second from right, and her family at Game 4 of the World Series, Oct. 29, 2016. (Courtesy of Molly Tolsky)NEW YORK (JTA) — Since leaving my beloved Chicago for New York nearly seven years ago, there have been a few consistent reasons for...

The 5 (or so) habits of successful seder leaders

Edmon J. RodmanPublished April 6, 2017

What’s the best way to lead a Passover seder? (Lior Zaltzman)LOS ANGELES (JTA) — What kind of leadership style works best for a seder? During a period when we are experiencing a shake-up in national leadership, you may want to re-examine the relationship...

From top left: “The (unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah” (Moshe Rosenberg); “Sammy Spider’s Passover Shapes” (Kar-Ben); “Passover Cowboy” (Apples and Honey Press); “How It’s Made: Matzah” (Apples and Honey Press)

7 new kids’ books for Passover, from seder guides to stories

Penny SchwartzPublished April 5, 2017

(JTA) — From the wizardry of Harry Potter that echoes with Passover’s themes to a cartoon frog who wisecracks his way through the seder, this year’s new crop of Passover books for kids offers something for all ages and interests.The selection of...

5 social justice-themed seder supplements to try this Passover

Josefin DolstenPublished March 30, 2017

Social justice-themed Haggadahs can help make the Passover story more relevant to today’s world. (Top left, clockwise: Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Charles McQuillan/Getty Images; Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Mark Renders/Getty Images)NEW YORK (JTA) —...

Rabbi Hyim Shafner serves Bais Abraham Congregation.

Seder mirrors breakup, redemption of family

By Rabbi Hyim ShafnerPublished April 28, 2016

Passover is about relationships.  Over and over, the Torah expresses the Passover Seder in intergenerationally related terms, such as:  “When your child shall ask you, ‘What is this service’ ” and, “And you shall say to them, ‘With a strong...

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