(JTA) — Here we go again: The issue of how and why the United States should engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is back in the news.The announcement by the Trump administration that the U.S. will be pulling...
University of Missouri-St. Louis has been seeking to establish a new Hillel chapter, and I was asked by the organizers to write a commentary addressed to potential members. What follows are some themes I struck in making the pitch for young people to...
Look to Israel for sensible gun policiesI read with great interest the Op-Eds in the Oct. 11 issue of the Light regarding guns. As a former paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Battalion 890, who served with honor in the first Lebanon War,...
By Ben Cohen, JNS.org
• Published October 19, 2017
Walking through central London last week, and with a spare half hour on my hands, I decided to pay a quick visit to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Inside, I spent most of my time intently studying a painting that I could not recall having seen...
Bradley Shavit Artson, Arnold M. Eisen, Julie Schonfeld and Steven C. Wernick
• Published October 18, 2017
Robert Indiana’s sculpture at the Israel Museum spells out “ahava,” the Hebrew word for love. (Pascal Deloche/Getty Images)(JTA) — Contemporary Jewish life is graced by extraordinary blessing: We are the heirs of a Torah of compassion and justice...
Can we grow as a St. Louis area community? What new elements can be introduced to allow people of different views to listen to outcry on both sides?The acquittal of former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley, who had been charged with first-degree...
We knew it was coming.
The worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history happened in Las Vegas last week, with 58 killed and more than 500 injured. The numbers of fatalities will keep changing, as families are devastated and medical professionals with...
I’d like this to be titled, “Don’t Touch It! Run Away! Tell A Trusted Adult!” Most Jews will not know what I am talking about. Readers, do you know? If you do not, you have failed to teach your children about something that can save their lives....
Should we just throw in the towel and abandon our aspirations for achieving Jewish unity? It seems like such an unrealistic, unattainable, pie-in-the-sky goal. Wishful thinking. We Jews are just not in the habit of agreeing with each other about much...
When was the last time you did something on a whim—just for the fun of it? Well, one of the ten key elements of a fulfilling retirement is “Fun.” And one way to have fun is to be spontaneous. My wife, Ann, came across an article reporting that...
One might not think that state politics in Alabama would be of concern to Jewish St. Louisans.Think again.In the recent Alabama Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Roy Moore, the homophobic, Islamophobic, theocratic candidate, easily defeated Sen. Luther...
Presidential debateI read Professor Marty Rochester’s commentary on “Charlottesville and healing the racial divide” (Sept. 27) and stopped what I was reading to make sure I understood the professor’s point. According to Rochester, Donald Trump...
