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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Opinion

How to understand Nathan Fielder’s HBO show ‘The Rehearsal’

How to understand Nathan Fielder’s HBO show ‘The Rehearsal’

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished August 7, 2022

(JTA) — Ah, summertime. A season to take a plunge in a mountain lake, read a trashy novel on the beach and reenact a historical tragedy through a month-long pageant of self-denial and fasting. Wait, what? If you don’t associate summer with...

Can Jews ever agree to disagree?

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished August 4, 2022

(JTA) — Here’s a story I recently shared on Facebook: I was paddling my inflatable kayak on a lake in the Berkshires. Granted, it is not the sleekest or coolest-looking conveyance, but it gets the job done and it fits in the trunk of my car. At one...

Why Tisha B’Av is arguably the saddest day on the Jewish calendar

Why Tisha B’Av is arguably the saddest day on the Jewish calendar

Betsy Schmidt, Special For The Jewish LightPublished August 4, 2022

We have all been through so much these past 2 years. Not just Covid, but multiple mass shootings, racial and political tensions, the economy, and the destruction caused by changing weather patterns. Loss of life and place, loss of our daily life-patterns,...

Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health Coach, is a longtime fitness instructor at the Jewish Community Center. She is also a member of the St. Louis Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Balancing life forces for improved wellness: fitness instructor draws inspiration from Jewish holidays

CATHLEEN KRONEMER, Special to the Jewish LightPublished August 3, 2022

Tu B'Av, a relatively minor Jewish holiday, finds a place in modern Israel as a holiday of love. Considered a romantic Jewish holiday, even secular observers see Tu B’Av as the Jewish equivalent of Valentine’s Day.  Couples often plan their weddings,...

Mimi David

Destruction of second Temple is a loss felt through centuries

MIMI DAVID, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished July 20, 2022

Yael was a recent college graduate looking for her first teaching job in Israel. She finally found a position she thought she would enjoy, teaching beginner Hebrew skills to new Israeli immigrants in an ulpan. Nervous but confident in her creative classroom...

Letters to the editor: July 13, 2022 edition

Letters to the editor: July 13, 2022 edition

Published July 20, 2022

Reader’s response to Rochester column I strongly disagree with the recent commentary by Professor Marty Rochester on Ukraine (“Some predictions about a post-Ukraine War world,” June 22). His commentary advocates a Neville Chamberlin approach to...

An image released by NASA on July 12, 2022, shows the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region in the Carina Nebula, captured in infrared light by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI/Handout via Xinhua)

The James Webb Telescope looks at the universe through the eyes of God

BENJAMIN RESNICKPublished July 18, 2022

(JTA) – Back in December, human beings, a weird variety of uniquely frail, lithe and hairless monkeys, launched into space a new, $10 billion dollar telescope, 21 feet in diameter and, like many great temples, covered with golden mirrors. The James Webb...

How I learned to stop kvetching and love the Yiddish revival

Published July 17, 2022

AMHERST, Massachusetts (JTA) — Josh Dolgin, the Canadian rapper and klezmer musician who performs as Socalled, was nearing the end of a raucous, crowd-pleasing set last Sunday when he paused to introduce a Yiddish song about a frog, “Di Frosh.” “It’s...

As U. City cemetery ages, it needs our help to honor our ancestors

As U. City cemetery ages, it needs our help to honor our ancestors

BY FAITH SCHWARTZ COMENSKYPublished July 14, 2022

I’ve been going to Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City visiting the graves of my family’s ancestors for decades. Sadly, in more recent times, my husband and I visit the graves of some of our immediate family as well. I’ve always been...

Shaming women who have abortions is not a Jewish ethic

Published July 11, 2022

(JTA) — I have long been a keeper of women’s stories, many of which relate to fertility and reproductive choices, experiences generally shrouded in secrecy. While I am honored to be trusted with these personal accounts, I look forward to, and am...

How the Lanner case still haunts American Jewry

Published July 10, 2022

(JTA) — It’s been over 20 years since my predecessor as editor of the New York Jewish Week, Gary Rosenblatt, first exposed the predations of Rabbi Baruch Lanner. His powerful investigation led Lanner’s bosses at the Orthodox Union to issue a report...

"From wife to widow," the conversation no one wants to have, but should

“From wife to widow,” the conversation no one wants to have, but should

By Emilie Schaffer, CFP®, CRPC®, Buckingham Wealth AdvisorPublished July 5, 2022

Let’s say you are 36 years old and feel like you have everything you want. You graduated from college with a nursing degree and enjoyed the uncomplicated life of a single woman in her twenties. You saw the world and utilized your skills at the Red...

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