Skip to Main Content
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

Opinion

Rabbi Eliezer Finkelstein of Bais Abraham Congregation.

D’var Torah: Mitzvot and intentionality

Rabbi Eliezer Finkelstein, Bais Abraham CongregationPublished June 12, 2025

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...

Slippery slope of aging begins with trying to beat the crowd

Slippery slope of aging begins with trying to beat the crowd

Amy Fenster BrownPublished June 5, 2025

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...

Isaac Dechtman of Denver and his parents Evan and Jennifer comfort each other at the Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado, on June 3, 2025, two days after 12 people marching to raise awareness for Israeli hostages in Gaza were injured in a "targeted act of violence" by a man wielding incendiary devices. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

We Jews know what hate looks like. So why is it so hard to name when it comes for us?

Iola Kostrzewski, JTAPublished June 4, 2025

I am Black. I am Jewish. I work in the field of hate crimes not only as a professional who responds to incidents, builds coalitions and educates others but as someone who has lived their reality. I carry it in my skin. In my breath. In my children’s...

Israeli politics in an era of polarization: What WashU students have to say

Israeli politics in an era of polarization: What WashU students have to say

Ayala HendinPublished May 30, 2025

For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of developing and teaching a course titled “Israeli Politics in an Era of Polarization” at Washington University, as an Israel Fellow in the Department of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies...

Jerusalem isn’t the problem, it’s the key to the solution

Jerusalem isn’t the problem, it’s the key to the solution

Kathryn OwensPublished May 30, 2025

Though I have always cared about the future of Israel and Palestine, studying the conflict used to cause me to feel hopeless and powerless. I felt like I would never know enough to be able to contribute to nuanced discussion, much less reimagine the...

A new status quo?

A new status quo?

Olivia FishmanPublished May 30, 2025

What should Israel do when the Status-Quo is anything but? When David Ben Gurion drafted the Status-Quo Agreement following Israel’s independence in 1948, it aimed to codify Israel’s identity as a home for observant Jews: It asserted Shabbat...

I do…but not in Israel

I do…but not in Israel

Rachel BeckerPublished May 30, 2025

Imagine sitting in the crowd of a wedding as two women exchange vows, or witnessing a Jewish partner pledge their commitment to their Muslim beloved. Envision next a ceremony unbound by ritual in which two secular Jews join in matrimony through legal...

D'var Torah: Living our values in daily life can turn the mundane to sacred

D’var Torah: Living our values in daily life can turn the mundane to sacred

RABBI ANDREW H. TERKELPublished May 29, 2025

My friend has a little wooden sign in her kitchen that says, “Sorry for the mess, but we live here.” It always makes me smile because it acknowledges that life is often a messy business. Between the kids leaving crumpled up homework,...

Letter’s to the Editor – May 21 Issue

Published May 21, 2025

A rabbi’s letter to  Jewish doctors I have just returned from a three-day conference in Washington, D.C. — Zionist Rabbinic Coalition. The ZRC rabbis are Orthodox, Reform and Conservative, among others. The ZRC mission is to support Israel and to...

We won the right to reproductive freedom. Now we must continue fighting to keep it.

BY DANA SANDWEISSPublished May 21, 2025

I collected more signatures than any other volunteer in Missouri to get Amendment 3 on the ballot to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban. I left it all on the field, and I’m ready to do it again now that our legislators are refusing to respect the will...

Antisemitism bill is broad, vague and could punish Jewish students

By Warren RosenblumPublished May 7, 2025

My daughter is a junior at Columbia University. Periodically, I’ve asked her whether she worried about antisemitism on campus. No, she says. And when I point to reports of protesters demonizing and harassing Jewish students, she holds her ground.  She...

Missouri antisemitism bill deserves bipartisan support

By Stacey NewmanPublished May 7, 2025

I used to be an active social justice legislator, a progressive liberal activist for years. On Oct. 7, 2023, I became just a Jew. As coordinated protests cheering on Hamas sprouted like wildfires mere hours after the historic terrorist attack in Israel...

Load More Stories