This week’s parashah, Ki Tavo, contains quite a number of curses and blessings. The Torah paints a striking picture of the Israelites, divided by tribe, standing on the tops of Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, facing one another. The Levites call out blessings...

Jews have reason to be inspired by the mandate  in Missouri for Holocaust Education.  Thirty other states have mandates or policies that encourages the inclusion of the Holocaust in classrooms. By contrast Jews should be  worried about Donald Trump’s ...

Viewpoints expressed in letters, commentaries, cartoons and other opinion pices reflect those of the writer or artist, and not those of the Light. We welcome submissions of letters and commentaries to us. Click here to submit. Galit Lev-Harir,...

Much of the Book of Devarim deals with the obligation we have as a people to remain separate. We are obligated not to follow the customs of the people whose land we are conquering nor to assimilate ourselves among them. This is due to a culture and...

Not so very long ago, the people we saw in black robes in a courtroom were exclusively white men. By and large, they were of the Christian faith and came from backgrounds of wealth and privilege. Also, not so long ago, even practicing law as a woman,...

Viewpoints expressed in letters, commentaries, cartoons and other opinion pices reflect those of the writer or artist, and not those of the Light. We welcome submissions of letters and commentaries to us. Click here to submit. Growing up, I read many...

Viewpoints expressed in letters, commentaries, cartoons and other opinion pices reflect those of the writer or artist, and not those of the Light. We welcome submissions of letters and commentaries to us. Click here to submit. This past election cycle,...

Do you remember the cartoons in which a rain cloud would appear and cause a storm over just one individual? Even as we can marvel that, at a given moment, it’s raining in Clayton but not in Ladue, at the J but not at Mirowitz, our St. Louis region...

(JTA) — In his historical account of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Josephus describes how the Jews slowly succumbed to starvation. At the beginning of the siege, the Jewish faction known as the Zealots burned the grain reserves that had been stored...

This Shabbat marks the start of the Book of Deuteronomy, which reads: “These are the words (d’varim) that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan …” Deuteronomy is also referred to as Mishneh Torah, or the repetition...

Kol Nidrei…“Wait!” you may be thinking. “Is it Yom Kippur already?” But stay with me for a minute.  As many of us may know, Jewish holidays start at sundown and continue until sundown the next day. To help us distinguish the evening of a holiday...

This past Sunday, we fasted on the 17th of Tammuz, which our rabbis, in Mishnah Ta’anit 4:6, say commemorates five events:  Moshe breaking the Two Tablets upon seeing the Golden Calf;  suspension of the daily offerings in the Temple; the Romans...