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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

Israel News

Karen Tal, right, visits with a student at an Amal school in Petah Tikva, Israel, Nov. 24, 2023. (Larry Luxner)

Amid war, this Israeli educator is finding new ways to promote Jewish-Arab coexistence

LARRY LUXNER, JTAPublished January 29, 2024

TEL AVIV — It only took a few minutes from the time the rocket fire from Gaza began on the morning of Oct. 7 for Karen Tal to field her first of many phone calls and messages with terrible news. The CEO of Amal, a secular educational network whose...

In his new book, “Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent, 1948-1978,” he writes about an early, formative era before American Jewish institutions had unequivocally embraced Zionism, and when American Jewish leaders disagreed with the Israeli government over the fate of the 750,000 Palestinians displaced by Israel’s war for independence.

When ‘nice Jewish boys and girls’ first took up the cause of Palestinian rights

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished January 28, 2024

(JTA) — In the four months since the Hamas attacks on Israel touched off war in Gaza, Jewish protesters have joined demonstrations in the streets of New York, San Francisco and other cities condemning Israel and demanding an immediate ceasefire. But...

Survivors of the Nova party massacre on Oct. 7, 2023 participate in trance therapy as part of a trauma recovery program at Kibbutz Hazorea in northern Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. (Larry Luxner)

Survivors of the Nova massacre on Oct. 7 work through trauma at unique Israeli therapy center

Larry Luxner, JTAPublished January 26, 2024

KIBBUTZ HAZOREA, Israel — Fifteen young men and women, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings and to each other, dance around a bucolic field, twisting their bodies to trance music blasting through their headphones. Beyond their earphones is silence,...

(Bein Harim Tours)

The surprising effect the Gaza War is having on the Tel Aviv art scene

Sarah Mann, JTAPublished January 25, 2024

Life changed dramatically for millions in Israel on 7th October 2023 and one of them was Inbar Haiman, a young student attending a Peace Festival in the Negev desert that weekend. Caught up in the attack, and then kidnapped and hauled off to Gaza on...

Hamas terrorists allegedly kidnapping Israelis and taking them into Gaza, as seen in pixelated video from social media, Oct. 7, 2023.

Hamas reportedly rejects 2-month ceasefire as talks remain ‘serious’

Ron Kampeas, JTAPublished January 23, 2024

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Hamas reportedly rejected an Israeli offer for a two-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages held in Gaza, even as top U.S. and Qatari officials said talks aimed at an extended pause in the war are “serious.” On...

IDF soldiers conduct operations against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, Jan. 21, 2024. Credit: IDF.

Israel rejects Hamas’s terms of surrender

JNSPublished January 21, 2024

The State of Israel will retain full security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River after it achieves its objectives of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and returning the hostages held there, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

Israelis marking the first birthday of Kfir Bibas in captivity of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Jan 18, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Stop and breathe this in: Israeli baby Kfir Bibas turns 1 in captivity

Deborah Danan, JTAPublished January 18, 2024

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Three weeks after her cousin was abducted and taken to Gaza along with her family, Yifar Zailer said she knew one thing for sure: “I don’t want to be here in two months, celebrating Kfir’s first birthday.” And yet that’s...

Jewish leaders react to St. Louis' support of a cease-fire

Jewish leaders react to St. Louis’ support of a cease-fire

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished January 17, 2024

Some St. Louis Jewish leaders are reacting to the recent vote by the St. Louis Board of Alderman calling on President Joe Biden to work toward a cease-fire in Israel's war with Hamas. The unanimous vote on an updated version of Resolution 137 occurred...

During Neuman’s volunteer trip to southern Israel, she harvested fruit in a sunny clementine orchard on a moshav (above), but also visited scenes of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, including the now-empty home of Rachel and David Edri, who were held hostage during the attack.

‘I needed to see and understand for myself what is going on in Israel’

Shula NeumanPublished January 17, 2024

It’s a beautiful, cloudless day. The temperature is a perfect 75 degrees, and the December sun is causing me to sweat as I cut another clementine from the tree and put it in the bag draped across my body. That’s when I hear a distant boom and rumble...

IDF reservist Idan Amedi, an actor who stars in the hit Netflix series Fauda, was wounded while fighting in Gaza.

Fauda star Idan Amedi severely wounded in Gaza battle 

By Yulia Karra, Israel21cPublished January 9, 2024

Idan Amedi, star of the hit Israeli TV show “Fauda,” was severely wounded on Monday during fighting in the Gaza Strip where he was deployed as an Israel Defense Forces reservist. According to reports in the Israeli media, the actor and singer was...

A military helicopter flying above the Gaza Strip, as it seen from the Israeli side of the border, on Jan. 8, 2024.

9 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza as IDF announces less intensive phase and Lebanon border simmers

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished January 9, 2024

(JTA) — Nine Israeli soldiers were killed, including six in one incident, during fighting in Gaza on Monday as Israel announced a new phase that officials said would be more targeted than the campaign that has devastated the enclave. The announcement...

DeMar DeRozan displays the jersey he signed at Madison Square Garden.

For an Israeli Chicago Bulls’ fan slain on Oct. 7, a final gift from that team’s star forward

Jon Kalish, The ForwardPublished January 8, 2024

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. Chicago Bulls’ forward DeMar DeRozan honored the memory of an Israeli basketball fan murdered at the rave near kibbutz...

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