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

Health

Doctors require two specific images of each breast to interpret mammograms properly. Sometimes more than four photos are necessary; it doesnt mean anything is wrong. (izusek / Getty Images)

Why experts say Jewish women should get mammograms at 40

Published July 10, 2023

When Yaffa Leah Field was in her late 20s, she decided to undergo genetic testing. Her grandmother had had breast cancer, and Field wanted to know whether she was among the one of every 40 Jewish women of Ashkenazi descent with either the BRCA1 or...

From left to right: Rev. Traci Blackmon, Maharat Rori Picker Neiss and Americans United for Separation of Church & State CEO Rachel Laser march to the Civil Courts building in St. Louis. (Courtesy of Americans United for Separation of Church & State)

How some Jewish activists are campaigning for reproductive rights

Published June 27, 2023

(JTA) — Before sundown Friday night, as American Jews prepared to light their Shabbat candles, some also lit yahrzeit candles. The additional flames, which signify mourning, burned in commemoration of the first anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s...

7 ways to offer support and Jewish strength to friends or loved ones facing cancer

7 ways to offer support and Jewish strength to friends or loved ones facing cancer

Published June 7, 2023

When Shoshana Polakoff, 40, received an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis three years ago, the mother of three young children needed extra support. Her friends, family and Jewish community in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan immediately...

Man having a stomach ache.

Jews are genetically prone to stomach problems. Scientists are starting to understand why

By Adam Kovac, THE FORWARDPublished April 30, 2023

Jews and their digestive problems are the subject of countless bad standup comedy routines, but a recent study may have identified exactly why so many Jews are afflicted. For years, scientists have known that people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent...

Drug interactions are a growing threat to older adults

Drug interactions are a growing threat to older adults

By Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished April 20, 2023

Memory loss. Difficulty breathing. Impaired vision. Rapid heart rate. Nausea. Those are just a few medical issues faced by older adults — after taking medication. These side effects are all too common if two or more medications interact with each other...

Image courtesy of St. Lukes Hospital

When St. Luke’s Mobile Mammography Unit will return to the J

Published February 19, 2023

St. Luke’s Hospital Mobile Mammography Unit will be at the J in Creve Coeur on Thursday, March 9 from 8:00am – 1:30pm. This service provides 3D screening mammograms for women 40 years of age and older. Mammograms are one of the best tools doctors...

What you need to know about Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week

What you need to know about Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished February 2, 2023

Did you know this week is Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week? If not, we wanted to make you aware because Jewish genetic diseases are incurable and the best defense against them is genetic screening. Screening allows doctors to identify individuals...

: Volunteers test patients for short- and near-sightedness. Photo by Elisa Hartstein.

Meet the Jewish doctor helping thousands in Ethiopia receive eye care

Andrew Jose, JNSPublished January 31, 2023

(JNS) When Israeli ophthalmologist Morris Hartstein visited Gondar in 2014 for a family volunteering trip, he did not know he would start an initiative that would help more than 8,000 Ethiopians receive eye care. Today, he is the founding director...

Discussion on self-care strategies at Mirowitz

Discussion on self-care strategies at Mirowitz

Published January 19, 2023

Jessie Brown, director of programs at NAMI St. Louis, will discuss “Unwind My Mind: Self-Care Strategies” from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Mirowitz Center on January 25, 2023. Brown will look at facts and statistics about anxiety and stress, how to address...

Judy and Dr. Robert Hellman inside Young Israel of St. Louis. Photo: Lisa Mandel

The Jewish Community Blood Drive is back thanks to Bob and Judy Hellman

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished January 4, 2023

In 2005, Dr. Robert “Bob” and Judy Hellman were moved by the Passover sermon from a visiting spiritual leader at Young Israel. The visiting rabbi was their son, Rabbi David Hellman, and his sermon inspired Bob and Judy to create a chesed project...

Partial layout of the graves discovered during the excavation at the medieval Jewish cemetery of Erfurt.
Thuringian State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology/Karin Sczech + Katharina Bielefeld

Ancient DNA from the teeth of 14th-century Ashkenazi Jews in Germany already included genetic variations common in modern Jews

Shai Carmi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and David Reich, Harvard UniversityPublished November 30, 2022

About two-thirds of Jews today – or about 10 million people – are Ashkenazi, referring to a recent origin from Eastern and Central Europe. They reside mostly in the United States and Israel. Ashkenazi Jews carry a particularly high burden of disease-causing...

A German town built a granary atop its Jewish cemetery. Now the bones are yielding insights about Ashkenazi DNA.

Toby Axelrod, JTAPublished November 30, 2022

BERLIN (JTA) – The city of Erfurt in central Germany is home to an impeccably restored medieval synagogue made possible because local Jews had been expelled long before the Nazis began their campaign to destroy Jewish sites. Now, Erfurt’s long-hidden...

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