Rabbinical Council statement on Beit Shemesh We, the undersigned pulpit Rabbis of the Rabbinical Council of St. Louis, strongly and unambiguously condemn the recent violence and intimidation committed by a group of misguided individuals in the Jewish...

Standing by Gov. Perry's zero-budget proposal Notwithstanding the fact that I'm a Jewish-American and a fervent supporter of Israel, I unequivocally endorse GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plan for a zero budget proposal for all countries...

Ad campaign criticisms were overblownI disagree with those American Jewish groups and individuals who thought that the Israeli government-sponsored ads, intended to cajole Israelis living in the United States to come home, were intended to insult and...

Community support helps residents keep Shabbat servicesOnce again the Jewish community has come forward in a time of need.Because of the article in the Jewish Light ("Residents hope concert will keep services afloat," Nov. 23), by Patricia Corrigan that...

Interfaith opportunity should not be missedThere comes a moment in time when the decision to act, to make a committment, to pay back for what others have done for us is upon us. The time has come.In the 1990s in Billings, Mont. a brick was thrown through...

Thanking the CedarsI want to thank the Cedars at the JCA for providing a wonderful holiday experience for its Jewish residents.The services were meaningful, and it was good to have Howard Shalowitz as cantor for the Sukkot and Simchat Torah celebrations....

Merged day school's policy on kashrutA Nov. 2 letter to the editor asserts that the new Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School has no kashrut policy. We would like to correct this misperception and explain our approach to the merger process.When a Reform...

Support for State RepFor those of us who live in Olivette, University City and Overland, Tuesday, Nov. 8 is an important election day, even though there's only one contest on the ballot: an election for the next State Representative in the 83rd District.Tracy...

Disappointing turnout from community Since 1999 the Jewish Environmental Initiative (JEI) has planted trees in the St. Louis Metro area, based on the vision of Alfred Kahn (z'l'), with the goal of planting 60,000 trees-the number Jews living in St. Louis...

Maintaining Jewish focus We are subscribers and have been reading the Light eagerly for many years. Occasionally, however, we find something in the Light totally inappropriate, such as a veterinary column ("Ask Dr. Doug," Oct. 5). We also subscribe to...

D'var Torah response receives its own critiqueThe Oct. 5 commentary, "Torah portion deserves critical examination,"  David A. Rubin writes, "I was disappointed by the Sept. 14, 2011 D'var Torah. Rabbi James Stone Goodman's prose was certainly interesting,...

Thank you to St. Louis for community's letters to IDFEditor's note: The following letter was addressed to the members of the community who wrote letters to Israeli soldiers during the Yom Ha'Atzmaut celebration at the Jewish Community Center this summer....