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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

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher A. Celiz was killed in action July 12 in Paktiya province, Afghanistan. (U.S. Department of Defense)

Jewish war hero received Medal of Honor, but not enough press

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished February 3, 2022

I've never been called a hero. But, I know what a hero looks like when I see one. I saw one today, as I was researching Jewish members of our military who have earned the Medal Of Honor. His name is Sergeant 1st Class Christopher A. Celiz. On Dec....

Issue #2 "Proof that mice can roar"

Issue #2 “Proof that mice can roar”

ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief EmeritusPublished February 2, 2022

The recent — and extraordinarily dumb — decision by a Tennessee school board to ban Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Holocaust-themed graphic novel “Maus” from its library is a reminder that mice cartoons have grown way beyond Mickey,...

'Never again’: Bill would expand Holocaust education in Missouri

‘Never again’: Bill would expand Holocaust education in Missouri

Stacey NewmanPublished February 1, 2022

Sometimes, in the darkest of times, there appears a small flickering light. Last week, I was honored to be among a formidable group that testified in the state capital in favor of HB2000, a bill promoting a week of (age-appropriate) Holocaust education...

You can’t just swap out ‘Maus’ for another Holocaust book. It’s special.

You can’t just swap out ‘Maus’ for another Holocaust book. It’s special.

Published January 31, 2022

(JTA) — Like many people, I encountered “Maus” as a middle schooler. But unlike many people, I can say that it set me on a direct path to my eventual career — as a scholar of religion, especially Judaism, and popular culture. I was 12 when the...

Another desperate (and fake) ‘Israeli apartheid’ report

Another desperate (and fake) ‘Israeli apartheid’ report

By Edwin Black, JNSPublished January 31, 2022
In an extraordinary move to attain media synchrony, Amnesty International actually pre-positioned an “embargoed” press release to maximize simultaneous anti-Israel impact.
Raunchy, sarcastic TikTok Talmud commentary isn’t profane. It’s Torah.

Raunchy, sarcastic TikTok Talmud commentary isn’t profane. It’s Torah.

Published January 28, 2022

(JTA) — Is it appropriate to call an ancient rabbi a “legendary hottie”? To use “thirst” in the online sense? To translate one Talmudic voice replying to another as, “Oh my God, what the actual f–k is wrong with you, you misogynistic...

My cousin may have betrayed Anne Frank. What would I have done in his place?

My cousin may have betrayed Anne Frank. What would I have done in his place?

Published January 27, 2022

(JTA) — My entire adult life I have espoused and jettisoned multiple theologies and philosophies after subjecting them to the ultimate test: Would they survive Auschwitz? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, almost always with some kind of caveat. Now...

10-year challenge churns up an emotional storm

10-year challenge churns up an emotional storm

SUZANNE EPSTEIN-LANG , SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished January 26, 2022

In case you have been living under a rock, there was a popular challenge on social media recently in which participants posted a photo of themselves 10 years ago, along with a current one. Though I see its pitfalls, I must admit I love social media...

A detailed view of the United Nations Holocaust Memorial Ceremony ""75 years after Auschwitz - Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice"" on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the ending of the Second World War, and the ending of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust Remembrance Day rule that proves everyone loves dead Jews

Jonathan S. TobinPublished January 26, 2022
The growing volume of lip service paid by the world to the memory of the Six Million is neatly matched by the complacence about or support for contemporary Jew-hatred.
Jewish women are leaders on abortion rights. But they can’t do it alone.

Jewish women are leaders on abortion rights. But they can’t do it alone.

Published January 26, 2022

(JTA) — In 1966, I was a student at Boston University’s School of Social Work when I received a phone call from a college friend. She explained in hushed tones that she needed an abortion and thought I could help her. At that time, I didn’t know...

Here’s some collected wisdom, and you can quote me

Here’s some collected wisdom, and you can quote me

AMY FENSTER BROWNPublished January 21, 2022

It’s time for a mid-January check-in. How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? I have a perfect track record for the first time in my life. That’s because my 2022 resolution was to no longer make New Year’s resolutions. I outsmarted the...

I let an unhoused man into my synagogue last week. How will we respond after?

I let an unhoused man into my synagogue last week. How will we respond after?

Rabbi Joshua LandonPublished January 21, 2022

(JTA) — When I turned on my phone after Shabbat last Saturday night and read about the unfolding hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Texas, I was immediately transported to my encounter the previous evening with the unhoused man who appeared,...

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