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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 NYC anti-Semitism march was incredible. But it shouldn’t overshadow Judaism’s main purpose.

RABBI ARI BERMANPublished January 7, 2020

NEW YORK (JTA) — On Sunday, I joined tens of thousands of Jews and non-Jews who marched from downtown Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge in a show of commitment to fighting the recent violent rise of anti-Semitism. Last week, I stood in Jerusalem...

Sarah N. Stern is founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), a pro-Israel and pro-American think tank and policy institute in Washington, D.C.

A long-awaited holiday gift for victims of terror

BY SARAH N. STERN, JNSPublished January 2, 2020

Anyone who cares at all about the pursuit of justice just got an unexpected holiday gift last week. Congress just passed a huge omnibus spending bill, which was signed by the U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 20 and became the law of the land: Public...

Rori Picker Neiss is Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis. 

Criticism, second guessing is easy; the work is in joining

BY RORI PICKER NEISSPublished January 2, 2020

I recall vividly the moment of realization I had soon after the Ferguson protests had gained steam. As a new member of the clergy and recent transport to St Louis, I watched the news unfold musing, “The Jewish community really should do something.”...

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Published January 2, 2020

Medical atlas’ history The recent article about a medical atlas’ Holocaust history (Dec. 19, “Squaring an anatomy atlas’ Nazi history with its potential to heal”) brought up the inhumane treatment of humans and bodies and the horrible behavior...

J. Martin Rochester, Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is the author of 10 books on international and American politics.

‘Joker’ as mental health advocacy is a joke

BY MARTY ROCHESTERPublished December 27, 2019

I just saw “Joker,” the Todd Phillips movie tracing the roots of the DC Comics supervillain character. Perhaps the most succinctly accurate movie review I read was the following:“‘Joker’ left me feeling conflicted. Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant,...

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Published December 27, 2019

Changes in BoliviaI write regarding the Dec. 13 commentary “Changes in Bolivia are Good for the Jews.” I have researched and lived in Bolivia on and off for over 25 years. The writer misrepresents president Evo Morales and events that led to his ouster. Morales...

Shira and Amichai Ish Ran hold a news conference last December at the Shaarei Tzedek hospital a week after being injured in a West Bank terror attack. Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90

My daughter survived an anti-Semitic terror attack. Here’s what I want the Jersey City survivors to know.

BY CHAIM SILBERSTEINPublished December 27, 2019

BEIT EL, West Bank — I watched the news of the terrible Jersey City shooting last week with both horror and a sense of déjà vu. Sadly, violent attacks against Jews, wherever we live, have become all too common. We can no longer assume our communal...

The response to the Jersey City shooting exemplifies the dangers of not taking Hasidic Jews seriously

Meyer LabinPublished December 20, 2019

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The horrific shooting in Jersey City was unfortunately the third deadly anti-Semitic attack at a Jewish institution in recent years. The victims of this attack were members of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar movement, a HASIDIC community...

Rabbi Dovid Fox, Ph.D., is the Director of Interventions and Community Education at Project Chai, the crisis intervention, trauma and bereavement department of Chai Lifeline. His commentary was distributed by JTA.

What do we tell our children in the aftermath of the Jersey City shooting?

BY RABBI DOVID FOXPublished December 19, 2019

LOS ANGELES — Another Jewish community has sustained a bloody attack that left Jews everywhere reeling. Last  Tuesday, a small enclave of Hasidic Jews in Jersey City, New Jersey had their worlds shaken and disrupted during a frightening siege. Schools...

Sindy Smith-Kubitschek

DNA test, Israel trip connects woman with family’s Jewish roots

BY SINDY SMITH-KUBITSCHEKPublished December 19, 2019

As a small child, I remember seeing the Star of David in the stained glass windows of the Agudas Achim Beth Israel in my hometown of Belleville as I walked past the synagogue with my maternal grandfather who helped raise me. I was drawn to the design...

Chaim Silberstein has become an activist, speaking out against Palestinian terrorism after his daughter, Shira, and her husband, Amichai, were critically injured in a drive-by shooting while waiting at a bus stop outside Ofra in December 2018.

My daughter survived an anti-Semitic terror attack last year. Here’s what I want the Jersey City survivors to know.

Chaim SilbersteinPublished December 18, 2019

BEIT EL, West Bank (JTA) — I watched the news of the terrible Jersey City shooting last week with both horror and a sense of deja vu. Sadly, violent attacks against Jews, wherever we live, have become all too common. We can no longer assume our communal...

Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health Coach, is a longtime fitness instructor at the Jewish Community Center. She is also a member of the St. Louis Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Ideas to lighten up Hanukkah cooking this year

By Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health CoachPublished December 18, 2019

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away (a.k.a. when I attended Sunday School as a child), I recall grasping the parallel between Hanukkah’s miracle of a vial of oil lasting 8 days and frying latkes in oil. It made sense then just as it does in my adulthood.However,...

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