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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

United Hebrew Congregation. Photo: Bill Motchan

Torah’s framework for constructive debate could help heal deeply divided society

CANTOR-RABBI RON EICHAKERPublished June 9, 2021

Not much is more disconcerting than members of one’s tribe engaging in passionately bitter and contentious arguments about leadership and hierarchy. “Who says you are the voice of this family? You don’t speak for me!” “Just because you had some...

Congregation B'nai Amoona. Photo: Bill Motchan

D’var Torah: Our good names are linked to our good deeds

RABBI JEFFREY ABRAHAMPublished June 3, 2021

We are told in Pirkei Avot (4:17) that there are three crowns, and “the crown of a good name surpasses them all.” This cliché, of course, has been used endlessly; yet, it is still relevant.  In our parsha, Sh’lach L’kha, we have the renowned...

Portrait of Rabbi Josef Davidson

Hearing, not only seeing, is believing

RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSONPublished May 27, 2021

After my transfer to a new elementary school in the fourth grade, I was offered the opportunity to play a musical instrument. Music had always been a huge part of my life, whether in synagogue, which I attended each Shabbat morning with my grandfather,...

The new Kol Rinah building in Clayton is nearing completion.

Torah speaks to the challenges of reentry

RABBI NOAH ARNOWPublished May 20, 2021

It’s been more than a year since I began reading the Torah through COVID-colored glasses. Or perhaps more aptly, I’ve been reading Torah this year through a mask. Familiar stories and concepts in the Torah read differently from home, on Zoom, streaming,...

7 fun facts about Shavuot that you should know

LEAH KADOSH, KVELLERPublished May 16, 2021

This story originally appeared on Kveller  Cut me a double slice of cheesecake — Shavuot is nearly here! Shavuot, which this year is observed from sundown on May 16 through May 18, is both an agricultural festival and a commemoration of the...

Congregation B'nai Amoona. Photo: Bill Motchan

Shavuot is the time to again tune in to the divine voice

RABBI JEFFREY ABRAHAMPublished May 13, 2021

When we enter the world of the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, In the Wilderness, I harken back to the discomfort of my own camping experiences. There was always grumbling from me or my brother. Yet the wilderness is the place of revelation. True, its...

Congregation B'nai Amoona. Photo: Bill Motchan

Parsha’s choice of words invites deep dive into nuances of communication

RABBI CARNIE SHALOM ROSEPublished April 29, 2021

This Shabbat, we will read Parashat Emor from the Book of Leviticus. Like many of the other Parshiot in this Holy Sefer, Emor highlights the special responsibilities and obligations placed upon the Kohanim, the Priestly Class of Ancient Israel. One...

Rabbi Josef Davidson serves Congregation B’nai Amoona and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.

Prayers for women, families in childbirth sorrow

BY RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSONPublished April 15, 2021

In Denver, I was based in the community’s nominally Jewish hospital and spent half of my time there delivering pastoral care to a wide variety of people and families.One of the areas in which I was called to specialize came as a result a need identified...

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.

Passover, the pandemic and a chance to delve deeper into our Jewish history, identity

By Cantor-Rabbi Ronald D. EichakerPublished April 2, 2021

This particular Passover observance, while it may be dominated by the external expressions inspired by time-bound practices, has presented us with an opportunity to recalculate our future by recalibrating our reason for being.Most of us, myself included,...

Another Seder on the Zoom (Fiddler on the Roof Parody)

Another Seder on the Zoom (Fiddler on the Roof Parody)

Published March 29, 2021

The Schon Wirtschafter family's ongoing "tradition", as long as we live in a pandemic. The 1st Seder on the Zoom: https://youtu.be/gS9iiGJxbWo The response, Far from the Home I Zoom: https://youtu.be/YMWDOcg7EE4 Starring and created by: Marnina,...

Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham serves Congregation B’nai Amoona and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.

Making memories is the sweet in Passover’s bitters

By Rabbi Jeffrey AbrahamPublished March 25, 2021

The “Sarajevo Haggadah,” handwritten and illustrated in 14th century Spain, was probably part of the expulsion from Spain in 1492. The details of how and when it arrived in Sarajevo, now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are not known. But it...

Laura and John Corn

Seder plates tell tales of family, Jewish histories

BY BILL MOTCHAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished March 25, 2021

A few years ago, Bob Hoffman was getting new siding on his house. He was sitting on his living room couch just under where a Hoffman family heirloom – an antique seder plate – was hanging on the wall. Workers outside were banging on the exterior wall...

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