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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

Dvar Torah

Rabbi James Bennett

Standing up for good, for right, for blessing

By Rabbi James BennettPublished May 30, 2019

People always tell us to count our blessings. Rarely, if ever, does anyone tell us to count our curses. After all, who wants to think about all the bad things that have happened because of our action or inaction, much less all the terrible consequences...

Rabbi Dale Schreiber

Seeking our divine purpose during Omer

Rabbi Dale SchreiberPublished May 23, 2019

Week by week, we engage with Torah, looking through the symbolism of its language. We read and try to assimilate those rituals and rules designed for a life we have never experienced. From the very beginning, God is speaking the world into existence...

Cantor-Rabbi Ronald D. Eichaker

One mitzvah at a time helps heal the world

By Cantor-Rabbi Ronald D. EichakerPublished May 16, 2019

This week’s parasha, Emor (speak of or to), Leviticus 21:1-24:23, continues the directions of the actions of the priests on behalf of the Israelites. It is an excellent postscript to the Holiness Code in the previous parasha as contains specific ways...

Rabbi Josef Davidson

Why Be Jewish? To strive for holy, meaningful lives

By Rabbi Josef DavidsonPublished May 9, 2019

It seems as though every Monday and Thursday someone is writing an article or a book in an attempt to answer the question, “Why be Jewish?” This speaks to the pressure to assimilate, on the one hand, and the desire to preserve Judaism and the Jewish...

Rabbi Jonah Zinn

‘Escape goat’ shows us path to redemption

By Rabbi Jonah ZinnPublished May 2, 2019

The taste of matzah was still fresh on our lips as we began the  study of Acharei Mot this year. This gastronomic phenomenon was particularly pronounced for those who read Acharei Mot last Shabbat because they observe seven days of Passover, including...

Rabbi Amy Feder

Traditions enrich Passover, no matter how long it lasts

By Rabbi Amy FederPublished April 25, 2019

The Torah portion for this week is Pesach (final day), which leads to the inevitable question: Just when is the final day of Pesach?  The Torah is clear: Pesach begins on the 15th day of Nisan and lasts seven days. Which sounds cut and dried, but only...

Rabbi Scott Shafrin 

Bringing dreams to life

By Rabbi Scott ShafrinPublished April 18, 2019

If you could envision the place you wanted to be in your life, what would that look like? Who would be around you? What would a day in that version of your life look like? What sort of person would you be?For most of us, having dreams and goals allows...

Rabbi Tracy Nathan

Bringing the marginalized back home

By Rabbi Tracy NathanPublished April 11, 2019

On Shabbat Hagadol, which immediately precedes Passover, we read from the Haftarah of Malachi in which God promises to send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the “great (gadol), awesome day of the Lord” (Malachi 3:23). On the night of the Passover...

Rabbi James Stone Goodman

Torah portion upends gender stereotypes

By Rabbi James Stone GoodmanPublished April 4, 2019

Pull up a chair. I have a story to tell. I was traveling around Mount Ararat near the Armenian border on my way to Kurdistan just after the Turks released their grip on the ancient land. You will recognize Mount Ararat from the biblical account of Noah,...

Rabbi James Bennett

And Aaron was silent

BY RABBI JAMES BENNETTPublished March 28, 2019

By now, you would think we would be numb to it. Every day, across the globe, people die of gunshot wounds. In the United States, an average of 100 people a day are killed by guns, more than 36,000 each year. Hundreds more are shot and injured.  Perhaps...

Rabbi Noah Arnow

Leave the symbols on for all to see

BY RABBI NOAH ARNOWPublished March 21, 2019

I feel like I’m always walking around my house turning off lights in empty rooms. It bugs me to waste electricity, to waste money, lighting rooms unnecessarily. I do the same thing at my synagogue, too. But there’s one light at synagogue that never...

RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSON

Don’t be a Fonz: Admitting one’s mistakes in seeking redemption

BY RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSONPublished March 14, 2019

One of the most popular programs on television during the 1970s was “Happy Days,” a nostalgic comedy about the late 1950s and early 1960s. During a turbulent era (when have we not lived through a turbulent era?), “Happy Days” provided a romanticized...

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