(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...
How many times have you heard the sermon about how, as Jews, we are commanded to remember and care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger because we were strangers in the land of Egypt?
Sometimes, the goal is to urge action: “Remember that...
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...
People are often surprised and, to be fair, a little wary, when they learn the topic of my rabbinical thesis. While many of my classmates chose practical themes that would help them in their rabbinate, such as “Judaism in the Age of iPhones” or...
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...
