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...
Mary Schuman and Susan Glassman
• Published April 30, 2024
Think of the worst thing you ever did. Then imagine being punished for it for the rest of your life.
Half a million Missourians have criminal records stemming from nonviolent, nonsexual offenses, including some arrests without conviction or jail time....
Stacey Newman, Special To The Jewish Light
• Published April 24, 2024
Among all the other reasons one goes to Paris on holiday, I had one primary mission during my long-planned bucket-list trip there last month with my daughter.
I was compelled to visit the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial, in the old Jewish quarter...
In his State of the Union last month, President Joe Biden referenced Hamas’s “Gaza Health Ministry” casualty numbers, saying that “more than 30,000” Gazans have been killed. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has now said that Israel must make...
Dear Rabbi,
My husband and I just found out we’re expecting. This pregnancy hasn’t come at the best time; we’re facing difficult financial pressures, and it just doesn’t seem like the right time for us to have a child. Friends have advised...
Laws that ban and restrict access to abortion do not stop abortions; they only serve to make them more dangerous and life threatening.
Women die when those who oppose access to safe, legal and affordable abortion set up bans and barriers that confuse...
STLRCA asks for community’s support
As we near the celebration of Passover, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you and for helping our community thrive.
The St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association (STLRCA) is the only clergy...
As if trolling Facebook and Instagram weren’t enough of a time suck, I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT, an AI language model created by OpenAI (whose CEO, Sam Altman, is Jewish, grew up in St. Louis and graduated from John Burroughs). For those...
A message from Shaving Israel’s president
Oct. 7 changed everything for everyone in Israel and of course for Shaving Israel. Shaving Israel is very proud to support members of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) in a very meaningful, personal, hands-on...
Jonathan S. Tobin, JNS
• Published February 27, 2024
For a few weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks, it seemed as if American Jewry was waking up. The massive pro-Israel rally held in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14 was an indication that large numbers of Jews—as many as 300,000 attended in person with an estimated...
Amy Fenster Brown, Special To The Jewish Light
• Published February 26, 2024
Kids these days. The older mine get the less I understand what they’re saying. I hear the words and I know they are words, but when strung together and spoken, they just don’t make sense.
In the past, I’ve helped you de-code what in tarnation...
