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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

Local news

Reward offered in Clayton antisemitic hate crime investigation

Reward offered in Clayton antisemitic hate crime investigation

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished August 15, 2025

A $30,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Clayton antisemitic hate crime that damaged three vehicles and left antisemitic graffiti in a residential neighborhood. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Jewish...

Rabbi Rocki Schy-Brunson

Temple Emanuel to install new assistant rabbi and education director

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished August 14, 2025

With a heart for education, a gift for making everyone feel seen and a deep commitment to building community, Rabbi Rocki Schy-Brunson is bringing fresh energy and a genuine spirit of “welcome home” to Temple Emanuel. A recent graduate of Hebrew Union...

The band, "Native State" on state in 2024.

Guitar riffs and good deeds: Michael Staenberg’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ returns to rock Chesterfield

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished August 14, 2025

If you’ve spent any time in the St. Louis Jewish community, you’ve probably bumped into Michael Staenberg — or at least a project he’s helped bring to life. He’s a guy who gives a lot, but this September he’s giving in a way you can dance...

Drew Patchin

12-year-old cancer warrior Drew Patchin turns life’s hard lessons into children’s book

By Ellen Futterman, Editor-in-ChiefPublished August 13, 2025

Already an honorary parade marshal, junior FBI agent and police officer, boy scout camp director, basketball official, Fox 2 morning host and five-time pediatric brain cancer warrior, 12-year-old Drew Patchin can now add “author” to his list of...

Missouri schools say ‘never again’ with new Holocaust lessons for all

Missouri schools say ‘never again’ with new Holocaust lessons for all

By Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished August 13, 2025

Thousands of students across Missouri will learn about the horrors of the Holocaust during the 2025-26 school year. The Holocaust education bill signed into law two years ago by former Governor Mike Parson now requires public schools to implement curriculum...

ADL grades states on fighting antisemitism — here’s how Missouri scored

ADL grades states on fighting antisemitism — here’s how Missouri scored

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished August 12, 2025

As local and federal authorities continue their investigation into the Aug. 5 antisemitic hate crime in Clayton, the Anti-Defamation League has released its first-of-its-kind interactive tool measuring how every state fights antisemitism. Called the Jewish...

From oceans to outer space, our trash is everywhere

From oceans to outer space, our trash is everywhere

BY NANCY KRANZBERGt, Special To The Jewish LightPublished August 12, 2025

Several years ago, I interviewed Andrew Newman, a member of the John Burroughs School faculty, about his work on what some call “Plastic Islands”—vast patches of ocean and river pollution composed mostly of floating debris. Newman is a professional...

Chat up a stranger, it’s a mitzvah  — but please wash your hands

Chat up a stranger, it’s a mitzvah — but please wash your hands

By Amy Fenster Brown, Special To The Jewish LightPublished August 12, 2025

True story. Recently I walked into a public restroom and saw a young mother with a little boy about 2 years old. He was rolling around on the ground — the bathroom floor! — looking under the occupied stall. I asked whether they were in line, and the...

Author of Rachel Gold mysteries takes  different path in ‘Gourmet Club’ novel

Author of Rachel Gold mysteries takes different path in ‘Gourmet Club’ novel

Ellen Futterman, Editor-in-ChiefPublished August 12, 2025

Those familiar with native St. Louisan Michael Kahn’s novels might be surprised to learn that his latest one, “The Gourmet Club,” does not include St. Louis lawyer and supersleuth Rachel Gold, save for a brief cameo. After all, 11 of the 14 books...

The Grapevine Tavern

A St. Louis bar. A Jewish family. A trail of secrets in the MLK murder files

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished August 12, 2025

When Nina Gilden Seavey was 12, growing up in University City, the Air Force building on Washington University’s campus burned to the ground. Her father, Louis Gilden, a Jewish civil rights attorney whose parents had fled pogroms in Ukraine before settling...

A hate crime just 350 yards from Kol Rinah, brings the community together

A hate crime just 350 yards from Kol Rinah, brings the community together

By Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished August 11, 2025

The distance between Kol Rinah and the site of the antisemitic hate crime in Clayton on Aug. 5 is a mere 350 yards. That proximity was on the mind of Rabbi Noah Arnow when he spoke to a group of 180 members of the community on Monday, Aug. 11, at...

The cattle car that is the "No Hate Now" exhibit.

Tickets on sale now for chilling Holocaust cattle car exhibit in St. Louis

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished August 11, 2025

Tickets are now on sale for the "Hate Ends Now" cattle car exhibit, coming to the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum Sept. 10–14, and organizers expect them to go quickly. Capacity is limited, and walk-up sales will not be available. Museum...

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