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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

The ‘queer, disabled’ Zionist who challenged the conventions of Israel’s founders

The ‘queer, disabled’ Zionist who challenged the conventions of Israel’s founders

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished May 22, 2022

(JTA) — It’s hard to find a poster promoting early 20th-century Zionism that doesn’t depict a tanned, chiseled man toting a shovel or a gun. The posters were visual reinforcement of the “Muscle Jewry” valued by Max Nordau and other early Zionist...

Overturning Roe would be an unconscionable infringement on the religious freedom of Orthodox Jews

Overturning Roe would be an unconscionable infringement on the religious freedom of Orthodox Jews

Published May 19, 2022

(JTA) — As Orthodox rabbis, we are devastated by the news that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. If this happens, states will be free to pass laws to prohibit or strictly limit abortion, and approximately 25 of them are prepared...

D'var Torah: ‘Earth-centered spirituality’ leads to harmony with the world

D’var Torah: ‘Earth-centered spirituality’ leads to harmony with the world

RABBI NEAL ROSEPublished May 19, 2022

What is Jewish time? I am not referring to our supposed casual approach to arriving at appointments or even at synagogue services. Rather, how do our spiritual teachers understand the nature of time? Rabbi Gershon Winkler teaches that “time...

Ahh nostalgia—when life tasted better and hurt less

Ahh nostalgia—when life tasted better and hurt less

Amy Fenster BrownPublished May 18, 2022

It’s likely not at the top of your mind, but I didn’t have a column in this paper for the past couple of issues. Did you miss me? Is it true that absence makes the heart grow fonder?  I love to say that abstinence makes the heart grow fonder,...

Four reasons why “The Great White Replacement Theory” has become so dangerous

Aviya Kushner, The ForwardPublished May 16, 2022

Let’s talk about “The Great White Replacement Theory.” If you would rather not, or if you believe it’s too ridiculous a lie to confront, please consider just one simple and undeniable fact documented by new polling — how popular it is in America. For...

It’s time for Jewish Federation to revisit education priorities

It’s time for Jewish Federation to revisit education priorities

RUSSEL NEISSPublished May 13, 2022

Viewpoints expressed in letters, commentaries, cartoons, and other opinion pieces reflect those of the writer or artist and not those of the Light. We welcome submissions of letters and commentaries to [email protected] Jewish Federation of St....

The United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

The Fall of ‘Roe’ would also be an attack on religious liberty

Stacey Newman  and Dana SandweissPublished May 12, 2022

On May 2, our lives were upended, especially in Missouri, with the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion that would overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guarantees a constitutional right to abortion. Despite consistent...

D'var Torah by Rabbi Carnie Rose: Talk to one another with love, respect and holiness

D’var Torah by Rabbi Carnie Rose: Talk to one another with love, respect and holiness

RABBI CARNIE SHALOM ROSEPublished May 12, 2022

This Shabbat, we will read Parashat Emor from the Book of Leviticus. Like many of the other Parshiot in this section of the Chumash, Emor highlights the special responsibilities and obligations placed upon the Kohanim, the Priestly Class of Ancient Israel. One...

It’s okay to be angry. Judaism says so.

It’s okay to be angry. Judaism says so.

Kate Hennessey, KvellerPublished May 10, 2022

I’ve never really been an angry person per se. In general, I’m more of a bottle-up-your-issues kind of a person (yes, I’m working on it). I have an incredibly long fuse and it’s hard to make me truly angry. This applies even to those days...

Mom knows best, and she always will

Mom knows best, and she always will

Jeffrey Levine, Buckingham Strategic Wealth Chief Planning OfficerPublished May 6, 2022

We’ve all heard the saying, “everything I learned, I learned from my mom.” Surely this is a bit of an exaggeration for many, but much less so in my case! As we approach Mother’s Day, I am reflecting on how grateful I am to have gained so much...

Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh

D’var Torah: Holiness toward others fans spark of the Divine

BY RABBI ELIZABETH HERSHPublished May 5, 2022

God spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Eternal your God, am holy.” This, to me, is the essence of our heritage. The simple beauty of these two verses declare that...

Lea-Rachel Kosnik with her husband, Logan, and their son, Vincent.

The challenge of interracial adoption: “Is he with you?”

LEA-RACHEL KOSNIKPublished May 5, 2022

“You should be a mother,” was what my own mother said to me the week before she died. I held her thin, weakened hand across the hospital bed and nodded. I was in my early 20s, and children seemed a far away possibility in an unlikely land that included...

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