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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

Lifestyles

Yiddish Word Of The Week

Jordan PalmerPublished April 7, 2021

Yiddish has always been a fun mystery to me.The words my grandparents would say always sounded funny, and I loved trying to say them when I was a kid. I've come to learn that Yiddish is a hybrid language combining German, Herbrew, and Araamic with a dash...

Rachel Bray-Spezia and James Spezia and their son, Wolfie.

Embryo donation made this Jewish St. Louis couple’s dreams come true

RACHEL BRAY-SPEZIA, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished March 30, 2021

Getting pregnant with my son Wolfie wasn’t the easiest. We had to employ several reproductive medical treatments, medications and procedures. Ultimately, I did have a healthy and successful pregnancy after a family donated their remaining frozen embryos...

Passover card -Moses Looking at Egypt Hebrew greeting

7 facts about Passover that will surprise and delight you

By Leah KadoshPublished March 28, 2021

This story originally appeared on Kveller, 70 Faces Media’s Jewish parenting site.Had I only gotten out of hosting last year’s seder, dayenu! But here we are, another pandemic Passover, which begins this year at sundown on Saturday, March 27 and...

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...

A family celebrates the seder. (Leland Bobbe/Getty Images)

9 things you didn’t know about Passover

By My Jewish LearningPublished March 25, 2021

Passover celebrates the ancient Exodus of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. Here are nine things you might not have known about the major Jewish festival.1. In Gibraltar, there’s dust in the charoset.The traditional charoset is a sweet Passover paste...

Cathleen Kronemer, a longtime fitness instructor and trainer at the Jewish Community Center, works with a member shortly after the J reopened in June. 

Fitness instructor from the J discusses sourcing carb energy during Passover

Cathleen KronemerPublished March 22, 2021

For Jews who will soon observe the age-old Pesach dietary rules, eliminating leavened bread for eight days often translates to “no carbs.” This creates a challenging dilemma for the avid exerciser, as the human body utilizes carbohydrates as a primary...

Monthly columnist Amy Fenster Brown is married to Jeff and has two teenage sons, Davis and Leo. She volunteers for several Jewish not-for-profit groups. Fenster Brown is an Emmy Award-winning TV news writer and counts time with family and friends, talking and eating peanut butter among her hobbies.

The doctor is in: How to choose the right pediatrician

By Amy Fenster BrownPublished March 16, 2021

I am in love.  He had me at “hello.” While there is no ring on my finger or any legal documents to sign, it is a committed relationship based on trust, respect and open communication, and I hope it stays rock solid for years to come. I use the term...

Twelve of the most beautiful secret spots in Israel

Twelve of the most beautiful secret spots in Israel

By Naama BarakPublished March 15, 2021

(Israel21C) — Israel being a pretty small country, you’d think that every last inch of it would be well-known and well-covered. Yet that’s far from being the case. Avid or armchair travelers can relish in reaching endless little locations where...

Jennifer Baer is the Director, PJ Library & Family Engagement at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis

The four questions of COVID

By Jennifer Baer, Special to the Jewish LightPublished March 12, 2021

Our Passover gatherings will look very different again this year when the holiday begins at sunset March 27. How ironic that we are celebrating the Jew’s escape from Egypt as we are limiting our own travel.  I remember practicing the four questions...

Dr. David Curiel, a cancer biologist who is Jewish and now lives in St. Louis and works at Washington University.

WU researcher pioneered process used in COVID vaccines

BY ERIC BERGER ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished March 9, 2021

Much of the discussion about the COVID-19 vaccines has centered around high and low speeds.For example, the U.S. government was able to accelerate the development and production of COVID-19 vaccines by guaranteeing funding to companies such as Moderna...

Mah Jongg

Mah Jongg Isn’t Just a Game — It’s a Way of Life

By Jessica Turnoff FerrariPublished March 8, 2021

This story originally appeared on Kveller, 70 Faces Media’s Jewish parenting site.For Jewish women of a certain age, playing mah jongg is as inevitable as eating Chinese food on Christmas, or complaining that you’re hungry on Yom Kippur.The sounds...

Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health Coach, is a longtime fitness instructor at the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis.

Haman, hamantaschen and how to have a healthy Purim

By Cathleen KronemerPublished February 24, 2021

While kids of any age look forward to December all year long, anticipating 8 fun-filled nights of gifts, dreidel spinning, latkes and chocolate “gelt” on Hanukkah, Judaism also features another grand and celebratory holiday, replete with costumes,...

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