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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

The holiness in our DNA

Rabbi Josef DavidsonPublished February 21, 2024

Name tags: one either loves them or hates them; there is no in-between. Everyone, however, is in agreement that they serve a worthy purpose. Wearing a name tag alleviates the awkwardness that comes with recognizing the face but not the name. Name tags...

Spiritual Objectification: Understanding the sanctity within the heart

Rabbi James Stone GoodmanPublished February 15, 2024

In the portion Terumah, we encounter the first objectification of the spirit: The Sanctuary as it will house what was previously the unencumbered Spirit. God says, build the place out of Me: Make [of] Me a Mikdash/holy place, and I will dwell [Shakhanti/Shekhinah]...

Understanding Repro Shabbat

Understanding Repro Shabbat

By Rabbi Andrea GoldsteinPublished February 8, 2024

This Shabbat, many congregations in St. Louis and across the country will be celebrating Repro Shabbat, a Shabbat dedicated to lifting up the Jewish values of reproductive freedom and justice.  Repro Shabbat occurs annually when Jews around the world...

Exploring the power of words and the divine in everyday speech

Exploring the power of words and the divine in everyday speech

Rabbi Noah Arnow  Published January 29, 2024

How often do you mention God in your everyday speech?  Maybe more often than you might think.  God shows up frequently in our rote phrases. “God bless you,” after we sneeze. “Baruch HaShem,” “Blessed is the Name,” as an answer to “How...

Unveiling Moses' leadership struggle: The power of listening

Unveiling Moses’ leadership struggle: The power of listening

By Rabbi Josef DavidsonPublished January 10, 2024

In this week’s Torah portion, Va’era, Moses is revisited by God after Moses’ message is rejected by the enslaved Israelites. When God instructs him to go a second time to deliver his message to Pharaoh as well, Moses complains, “The Israelites...

Let us try to recognize the awesome in 2024

By Cantor and Rabbi Ron EichakerPublished January 4, 2024

The Book of Exodus (the second of our Five Books) will contain some awesome events leading up to and following the revelation of the Law (Ten Commandments) to the Israelites. Looking closely at how this moment of awe is framed and presented, we start...

Can women wear Kippot?

Can women wear Kippot?

RABBI JESSICA SHAFRINPublished January 4, 2024

When I was 9 years old and attending a Conservative Jewish day school, I witnessed the boys that were required to wear kippot, or yarmulkes, every day while there was no such obligation for the girls attending the school.  As a young girl waiting in...

Jewish views on cremation

Jewish views on cremation

By Rabbi James BennettPublished January 2, 2024

“Rabbi, before my father died, he expressed a desire to be cremated. Is this permissible in Judaism?” Such questions often arise as families, amid fresh grief, are forced to make plans for the funeral of a beloved family member. Like so many questions...

Who are the heroes in Torah?

Who are the heroes in Torah?

Rabbi Scott Shafrin, Deputy Director, The Lee & Milford Bohm Director of Social Justice, Jewish Community Relations Council of St. LouisPublished January 2, 2024

Every culture has its tales of heroes, leaders and exemplars whose lives and stories serve as models for our own. Whether we look at the ancient stories of Achilles or the modern chronicles of Superman, the narratives of these characters are presented...

Why Jews put stones on graves

Why Jews put stones on graves

BY RABBI ELIZABETH HERSHPublished January 2, 2024

My family has a tradition of driving great distances. It is not unusual for us to drive to Maine or to Colorado. In the armrest of the car is a small open area where we keep stones of various shapes and sizes, collected from places we have traveled or...

'How to live forever' —  a d'var Torah on Parashat Vayechi

‘How to live forever’ —  a d’var Torah on Parashat Vayechi

Rabbi James BennettPublished December 28, 2023

Do you want to live forever? Do you want to be remembered? Who are you and who do you wish to be? Questions such as these loom large in each of our lives as we move gracefully or otherwise through the passing years of our personal journeys. This year...

Joseph’s reunification with brothers marks a 'cinematic milestone'

Joseph’s reunification with brothers marks a ‘cinematic milestone’

By Maharat Rori Picker NeissPublished December 21, 2023

Were I to be the director of the film version of our biblical stories, a moment in this week’s Torah portion would certainly be one that I would design as a climax.  We open with a speech by Judah, the longest oration in the Book of Genesis, as he...

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