There’s no better time than summer to embrace an ancient Jewish practice that could transform how we connect with each other: kvelling or to Kvell. Kvell—the Yiddish word meaning to burst with pride and joy over someone else’s accomplishments—has...

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...

This story was originally published by the Jewish Women’s Archive, and is repurposed here with permission. My mother is modern in her love but ancient in her rituals. When I got my first period, she slapped me across the face.Perhaps for her...

Hi, readers, and thank you to Amy Fenster Brown for letting me be the guest columnist this week. I’m Amy’s sister, and I live in Fort Smith, Ark., with my husband, Mike. We have two sons — Nathan, 30, who lives in New York, and Freddie, 26, who...

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...