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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

How to win Passover and help the St. Louis Jewish Light at the same time

How to win Passover and help the St. Louis Jewish Light at the same time

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished April 2, 2024

Remember the cozy tradition of matzah pajamas? Well, they're back and better than ever. Rabbi Yael Buechler introduced her beloved matzah pajamas to our readers in 2021, after she was inspired by her youngest son's adorable choice of "matzah...

New JGrads leadership prepares to host their first seder

New JGrads leadership prepares to host their first seder

Published April 2, 2024

JGrads St. Louis, Chabad on Campus's effort to recognize the needs of the hundreds of Jewish graduate students and their peers in St. Louis, is gearing up for its Passover seder. "The seder is targeted at Jewish graduate students and their peers,"...

Rabbi Dale Schreiber

Modern sacrifices bring us closer to the Divine

By Rabbi Dale SchreiberPublished March 28, 2024

For an estimated 13 centuries, sacrificial offerings were the way of Jewish worship. The protocols for such practices are recorded in the third book of Torah, Leviticus, or Vayikra in Hebrew. The rabbis often referred to books of Torah with names reflecting...

Rabbi Noah Arnow

From Jordan vs. LeBron to ancient rabbis, the legacy debate never ends

Rabbi Noah ArnowPublished March 25, 2024

Basketball fans are still debating Jordan vs. Lebron—which was the GOAT (the Greatest of All Time).  New Yorkers of a certain age used to argue passionately about the relative merits of Mantle, Mays and Snider, who were contemporaneous and competing...

500 attend UCity Purim Parade filled with pizzaz and surprising twists

500 attend UCity Purim Parade filled with pizzaz and surprising twists

Bill Motchan, Special To The Jewish LightPublished March 24, 2024

Nearly 500 participants joined in the Purim re-enactment and parade through the streets of University City on Sunday, March 24. Costumed characters marched alongside the characters in the Purim story during the annual event. In the spirit of the holiday,...

Embrace surprise events as opportunity on road to our Promised Land

By Cantor and Rabbi Ron Eichaker United hebrew CongreegationPublished March 21, 2024

At times, our purpose or direction in life may be less clear than others. There can be many influences that can cast a pall over our existence, taking us to murky places we may not choose to go.  When clouds of uncertainty cause us to remain stationary,...

Brothers Lazaroff and a host of musicians will perform at “The Passover Project: A Musical Seder,” at City Winery on Thursday, April 18.

Musical ‘Passover Project’ at City Winery will benefit Jewish Light

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEFPublished March 21, 2024

About a year ago, on March 16 to be exact, Michael Dorf opened City Winery St. Louis, an entertainment venue, restaurant, winery and event space at the City Foundry in Midtown. When I interviewed him at the time of the opening, our conversation ended...

Our new 'Passover Project: A Musical Seder' will unite, celebrate and elevate

Our new ‘Passover Project: A Musical Seder’ will unite, celebrate and elevate

Ellen Futterman, Editor-in ChiefPublished March 12, 2024

Tickets are now on sale for “The Passover Project: A Musical Seder,” at the City Winery on Thursday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. Rooted in a few examples from other creative communities around the country, the St. Louis Jewish Light wanted to create...

Photos: Getting an early start on Purim

Photos: Getting an early start on Purim

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished March 12, 2024

This year, Congregation Temple Israel got an early start on Purim, which begins at sunset on Saturday, March 23 and continues through the evening of Sunday, March 24. On Sunday, March 10, students from the religious school performed "A Very Muppet...

The annual U.City Purim Reenactment Parade took place on March 17. Photos: Bill Motchan

Everything you need to know about the University City Purim Parade ’24

Bill Motchan, Special To The Jewish LightPublished March 12, 2024

Soulard Mardi Gras, now the second-largest carnival celebration in the U.S., began in 1980 when five friends threw a house party. The University City Purim re-enactment shares several similarities. Participants dress up in costumes and the highlight of...

Don’t let our reflection blind us to needs of others

By Rabbi James Bennett, Congreegation Shaare EmethPublished March 6, 2024

For most of my life I have inclined towards a philosophy of universalism. From my earliest years, I understood our Jewish tradition as teaching that each human being is created B’tselem Elohim, in the Divine image, and that all human beings are equally...

Each of us is an artist conjuring beauty, holiness

Each of us is an artist conjuring beauty, holiness

By Rabbi Elizabeth HershPublished February 29, 2024

Ki Tissa opens with God telling Moses to take a census of the Israelite people. Each shall contribute a half shekel. The wealthy should not pay more nor the less fortunate less. We read about details involving the priests as well as the commandment to...

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