(JTA) — My parents, children of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, were named Irving and Naomi. They named their three sons Stephen, Jeffrey and Andrew. My kids’ names are Noah, Elie and Kayla.
Our first names capture the sweep of the American Jewish...
(JTA) — The death Queen Elizabeth II after 70 years on the throne is a devastating loss for Britain, the Commonwealth and the free world. It is hard to overstate the sense of grief that will be felt at her passing, including from within the Anglo-Jewish...
AMY FENSTER, Special For The Jewish Light
• Published September 9, 2022
When you think of a wholesome family vacation Las Vegas probably doesn’t top the list. So that’s exactly why we went there. Jeff loves Vegas, but Davis, Leo and I had never been. With two teenage boys, Sin City sounded like a good option. (Mother...
By Rabbi Susan Talve and Sara Ruiz
• Published September 7, 2022
“Ashrei,” is the first word in the Book of Psalms. Often translated as “happy,” “ashrei” can also mean forward and upward.
For 38 years, Central Reform Congregation has worked to move our region forward on a path towards justice and dignity...
BENJAMIN KRUGER, Junior, Parkway Central High School
• Published August 31, 2022
I’m part of a teen social justice group called Cultural Leadership, through which we learn about oppression through the lens of the Jewish and Black experiences. Earlier this summer, we traveled through the country, mainly in the South, and found ourselves...
Amy Fenster Brown, Special For The Jewish Light
• Published August 29, 2022
The majority of St. Louis area students are back at school. That routine brings a good amount of order back into families’ lives. While most kids don’t love mornings getting ready and evenings doing homework, structure is actually really helpful to...
Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA
• Published August 28, 2022
(JTA) — I hadn’t heard of “quiet quitting” until about 10 minutes ago. Since then every major news outlet has done a story on this purported trend, defined as a movement among office workers to draw firmer work-life boundaries by doing less work....
I met David McCullough for the first time in 1983. Over breakfast. In Phoenix.
As the television critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I was in Phoenix in June that year with several dozen of my counterparts from other papers across the country covering...
As we age, ailments suddenly surface like ungainly weeds. Although we try to tamp down these non-life-threatening, sometimes odd, conditions and ailments with lotions, potions, OTC (over the counter) remedies, exercise, good eating and even Physical and...
Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA
• Published August 21, 2022
(JTA) — Back in 2000, Spike Lee made a concert film starring four of the most popular Black comics of the day: Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric The Entertainer and the late great Bernie Mac. “The Original Kings of Comedy” was a revelation for...
(JTA) — In a recent Jewish Telegraphic Agency column, Andrew Silow-Carroll identified a trend in American Jewry, which he described as “fictionalism.” In the article, he defines it as “pretending to follow a set of beliefs in order to reap the...
