There are two muffins baking in an oven, a blueberry and a bran. The bran muffin turns to the blueberry and says, “Is it just me, or is it hot in here?” and the blueberry muffin says, “Holy cow! A talking muffin!!!” In this week’s parasha,...

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel devoted much of his writing and teaching to calling people to “Radical Amazement,” or heightened awareness of mystery and awe. "We don't live in an awareness that all that is is an incomprehensible mystery and miracle,”...

When my grandfather, Rabbi Benson Skoff, was in the third grade, he ran for class president. He told me that he ran against a girl in his class and that he thought the gentlemanly thing to do would be to vote for her. And he expected her to do the same. She...

Following the U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, the Jewish Federation of St. Louis joined Jewish Federations of North America in issuing statements to acknowledge the military action—a move taken in coordination with the State of Israel...

Next month, in St. Louis—the city with the largest Bosnian community outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina—we gather to mark 30 years since the genocide in Srebrenica. We write to remember what happened, to honor the victims and survivors, and to reflect...

What does it mean to live in a “democracy” if the voters speak and the politicians in power overturn your vote and your voice? When your officials disregard the rule of law and you have no way to hold them accountable? The Jewish community knows...

My family has been members of the Jewish Community Center (the J) since 1971. I’ve been a fitness club member since the 1980s.  I’ve noticed many contemporaries have decided not to renew their memberships because of other lower cost gyms. We have...

While we are awaiting the outcome of the Israel-Iran conflict — at a minimum Israel should demand that the regime renounce its longstanding objective of annihilating the Jewish state — let’s not forget about the Palestinian problem. As an international-relations...

As the Children of Israel leave Mount Sinai, in preparation for their journey to the Land of Canaan, the Torah tells us that: “And they departed from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey.” (10:33) Commentators explain that this means that...

Baseball great Satchel Paige has been quoted as saying, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” The answer would be an alarmingly high number for some friends and me after a recent lunch.  Let me process the trauma.  Seven...