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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 Stone Goodman

Of the known and not known

By Rabbi James Stone GoodmanPublished September 13, 2018

Moses spoke to his successor, Joshua, and told him a couple of things, but what I remember most is the phrase “be strong and courageous.” I loved it when our teacher talked courage.Moses told Joshua not to be afraid, that G*d would accompany us, that...

Hazzan Sharon Nathanson

Torah portion offers a way back from adversity

By Cantor Sharon NathansonPublished September 5, 2018

“ . . . . and God will gather you in from all the peoples to which Hashem, your God, has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the Earth, your God will gather you in . . .”  — Deut. 30:3-4 Even if we are at the ends of the Earth....

Mira Davis is cantorial intern at Congregation B’nai Amoona and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Jewish Light. 

The Divine plan for the Jewish people

BY MIRA DAVISPublished August 30, 2018

In this week’s parasha, Ki Tavo, Moses instructs the Israelites on the laws surrounding the bikkurim, the first fruits. He tells the people, “When you come in to the Land … you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the Land … and put it...

Rabbi Dale Schreiber is a chaplain providing Jewish care coordination for Pathways Hospice and Palliative Care and has a private practice, Renewal-in-Action, specializing in resiliency, spiritual development and compassion fatigue recovery. Schreiber is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.  

Torah portion exemplifies importance of compassion

BY RABBI DALE SCHREIBERPublished August 23, 2018

Ki Tetze means “when you go out.” The people are standing before Moses, who is downloading, in one long song, his remembrance of years past and fervent hopes for the future.  They are standing at the edge of one world imagining, perhaps, the trials...

RABBI NOAH ARNOW

Before judging others, judge ourselves

BY RABBI NOAH ARNOWPublished August 16, 2018

Yesterday, I was on the verge of correcting someone about something. I thought it would be too disruptive though, and embarrassing to them as well, so I held my tongue for a few minutes. Then, I checked the book from which I was going to prove myself...

 

Our choices lead us down path toward blessings — or curses

By Rabbi Josef DavidsonPublished August 9, 2018

A relatively new film shows triplets separated at birth as part of an experiment that was designed to discover whether it is nature or nurture that determines who each individual is to become. While the ethics of such an experiment are certainly questionable...

Rabbi Adam Bellows serves United Hebrew Congre-gation and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Light.  

Making the mundane holy

BY RABBI ADAM BELLOWSPublished August 2, 2018

In the beginning, when G-d was creating the world, humans were created in G-d’s image. That we were created b’tzelem Elokim, “In the image of G-d,” has been a positive and a negative for the Jewish people. It is a negative concept if G-d is a...

Rabbi James Stone Goodman

‘Living backwards in an upside-down world’

By Rabbi James Stone GoodmanPublished July 26, 2018

I ran into one of the prophets at Schnucks. He was looking over the fresh fruit. Someone spotted him and he signed a cantaloupe with this: I love you with all my broken heart.Then he started to recite poetry. Three weeks I sat in sadness, he declaimed,...

Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael is the coordinator of community chaplaincy at Jewish Family & Children’s Service and a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Jewish Light. 

Take the challenge of Tisha B’Av

BY RABBI MICAH BUCK-YAELPublished July 18, 2018

This coming week brings one of the most difficult days of the Jewish year. From Saturday night through Sunday, we will observe Tisha B’av, the day that commemorates many of the tragedies of Jewish history.In particular, we commemorate the destruction...

Cantor Joshua Finkel is the spiritual leader of  Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Community. 

Find the miracle within the ordinary

BY CANTOR JOSHUA FINKELPublished July 12, 2018

This week’s double portion, Matot-Masei, includes a number of dramatic and memorable moments from the Torah: The Israelites go to war with Midian; the daughters of Tzelafechad finally receive their inheritance after making a bold legal and moral argument...

Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose holds the Rabbi Bernard Lipnick Senior Rabbinic Chair of Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Jewish Light. 

The hidden lesson of a corrupted Vav

By Rabbi Carnie Shalom RosePublished July 5, 2018

Recently, I was invited to facilitate a discussion for an interfaith group of younger seminarians. The organizer, a delightful, gregarious and deeply spiritual professor of Christian theology, wanted me to expose his students to the “Jewish Approach...

Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael is the coordinator of community chaplaincy at Jewish Family & Children’s Service and a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Jewish Light. 

Words matter, with or without a talking donkey

BY Rabbi Micah Buck-YaelPublished June 28, 2018

In Parashat Balak, we read a vivid and strange episode in the life of the Israelites. As the Israelites draw near to Moab, the Moabites find themselves terrified of this foreign people approaching their country. The Moabite king, Balak, decides to meet...

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