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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

Judaism

Understanding the story of G-d's covenant with Abraham

Understanding the story of G-d’s covenant with Abraham

Rabbi Lane Steinger, Rabbi Emeritus, Shir Hadash Reconstructionist CommunityPublished October 23, 2023

About a week before a Shabbat or Yom Tov, I peruse the Torah Portion for that particular occasion. Generally, I focus on one or two parts of the Parashah, into which I delve more deeply. When Shabbat Lekh L’kha approaches, I go over the Portion from...

Cantor-Rabbi Ronald D. Eichaker serves United Hebrew Congregation and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Light.

Finding divine in ourselves helps build community

CANTOR AND RABBI RON EICHAKERPublished October 12, 2023

Starting this week, I am leading a study of a course offered at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill by professor Joseph Lam titled “Creation Stories of the Ancient World.” At the same time, we are beginning the reading and study...

A Simchat Torah tradition: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

A Simchat Torah tradition: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

By Itta Werdiger-Roth, The NosherPublished October 5, 2023

This story was originally published on The Nosher. Stuffed cabbage rolls are a traditional Simchat Torah food because two of the little rolls side by side look like a Torah scroll. Even if your cabbage rolls come out in various sizes, you can place...

The Miniature Torah

‘Turn it, turn it, turn it’ – The never-ending cycle to Torah continues

By Rabbi Brigitte RosenbergPublished October 5, 2023

This week we joyously celebrate the bounty of our lives during the festival of Sukkot. Even though most of us are not farmers, we think about the cycles of nature and, more specifically, the harvest season.   If we were farmers, while focusing on the...

Natural materials like palm fronds, tree branches or reeds typically create the top of the sukkah.

On Sukkot, the Jewish ‘Festival of booths,’ each sukkah is as unique as the person who builds it

Samira Mehta, University of Colorado, BoulderPublished September 26, 2023

Sukkot is a Jewish festival that follows right on the heels of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Judaism’s High Holy Days. The harvest holiday, which begins on Sept. 29, 2023, lasts for seven days when celebrated in Israel and eight days when celebrated...

David Meyer Wald, may his memory be a blessing, and the prayer mahzor dedicated to his memory

The mystery of the Jewish soldier who fell on Yom Kippur, 1944

Daniel Lipson, Special To The Jewish LightPublished September 21, 2023

This story was originally published by the National Library of Israel Among the many prayer books (mahzorim) dedicated to the High Holidays in the National Library’s collection, there is a particular two-volume set published in New York by the...

Why Yom Kippur is my favorite Jewish holiday

Why Yom Kippur is my favorite Jewish holiday

By Shelly Jay ShorePublished September 21, 2023

This story originally appeared in Hey Alma. I get a lot of odd looks when I tell people that my favorite day of the Jewish year is Yom Kippur. As Jewish holy days go, Yom Kippur exists at the complicated intersection of community observance, intense...

This German star cookie is perfect  for your Yom Kippur break-fast

This German star cookie is perfect for your Yom Kippur break-fast

By Ronnie Fein, The NosherPublished September 20, 2023

This story originally appeared in The Nosher.  When people deny themselves food for an extended period of time, they’re usually ravenously hungry and find themselves thinking about consuming huge amounts of food. But it’s not a good idea to pack...

Three alternative ways to fast that aren’t about food

Three alternative ways to fast that aren’t about food

Avital Kadosh, Special To The Jewish LightPublished September 18, 2023

As Yom Kippur quickly approaches, I am struck by the meaning behind the rituals and customs that surround our holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Chief among them: fasting for 25 hours. The Torah commands us to abstain from eating and drinking between...

Watch: Shaare Emeth's Tashlich service by the water

Watch: Shaare Emeth’s Tashlich service by the water

Bill Motchan, Special To The Jewish LightPublished September 18, 2023

More than 50 Congregation Shaare Emeth members gathered on the water’s edge at Des Peres Park on Rosh Hashanah for a Tashlich ceremony. Rabbi Rachel Bearman led the gathering, which featured songs by Lucy Greenbaum, director of music engagement. Bearman...

Recipe: Homemade gravlax for Yom Kippur break-fast

Recipe: Homemade gravlax for Yom Kippur break-fast

By Vered MeiPublished September 17, 2023

This story originally appeared in The Nosher. In “Full Moon Feast,” Jessica Prentice guides us through 13 lunar months and the foods grown and prepared within them in traditional cultures. At its core is the idea that food connects people to one...

The Thing, Peter Parker and Miles Morales in “An UnBEElievable Rosh Hashanah.”

Spider-Man is about to dip apples in honey with The Thing

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished September 14, 2023

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. Can he hang with the Jews? L’Shana Tovah tikatevu!  In a new special, “An UnBEElievable Rosh Hashanah,” Peter Parker and Miles Morales, two of the wall-crawlers who, in Disney Junior’s...

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