What would Vivian do?
Vivian Zwick was a pillar of the pro-choice and the Jewish community of St. Louis. She was the first woman elected as the president of the Jewish Light Board of Trusteess in 1975 (Jewish Light Aug. 10, 2022). I met her at several...
Yes, unfortunately, there is still racism in America. There will probably always be a degree of racism in America, as there is in virtually every country on earth. It is almost impossible to rid the United States and any other nation of the last bigot.
Still,...
If former President Trump incited a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, was he doing so as the sitting president, or as a private citizen? This may seem rather beside the point — the federal case against the president alleges that he was trying to overturn...
Gil Troy, (Jewish Journal via JNS)
• Published June 24, 2024
My good friend, Taglit-Birthright Israel’s CEO Gidi Mark, challenged me recently: “Can you offer short, punchy answers to some of the pressing questions our participants have—and some of the accusations being thrown at them?” Here’s my best...
Like many Jewish Louisianans, I followed with interest the so-called “Ten Commandments” bill which Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law this week. It requires public schools, including public colleges, to display the Ten Commandments in...
The St. Louis Jewish community is facing a crisis. Our congressional representative, Cori Bush, has repeatedly attacked our values and refused to even meet with us. Her smears of both Israel and the Jewish community fan the flames of racism and antisemitism....
“For 150 years, JFS has provided children, adults and seniors in the St. Louis region with the supports they need to lead vibrant, healthy lives” (— “About us” page on the Jewish Family Services website, jfsstl.org)
Jewish Family Services,...
(JTA) -- When the guilty verdicts in former President Donald Trump’s recent New York trial were handed down, Trump and his supporters — including some in my own Orthodox community — rejected the decree, saying that the legal system had been rigged...
In response to the JNS article “After faulting ‘fog of war’ for cloudy Hamas casualty numbers, UN’s new stats still don’t appear to add up” (published online May 14) there is yet another reason to believe that the count of Gaza “innocents”...
In March, many local rabbis and Jewish leaders endorsed Wesley Bell for Congress, claiming he is an ally of the Jewish community. We as Progressive Jews of St. Louis (ProJoSTL) find this sentiment fallacious.
To start, Bell dropped his run for the U.S....
As rabbis and cantors from across the spectrum of Jewish denominations, serving St. Louis-area congregations and Jewish communities, we are unified in our personal private capacities to publicly support Wesley Bell for Congress.
Three weeks after our...
Flora Cassen, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies Eliott Faculty Fellow Washington University in St. Louis
• Published May 16, 2024
Like many Jews, the attack of Oct. 7 and the war on Gaza have left me shocked and heartbroken. The lack of compassion and support, combined with the intensity and one-sidedness of the reactions, took me by surprise. But what added to my distress was that...
