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

Our Jewish Learning

Exploring the power of words and the divine in everyday speech

Exploring the power of words and the divine in everyday speech

Rabbi Noah Arnow  Published January 29, 2024

How often do you mention God in your everyday speech?  Maybe more often than you might think.  God shows up frequently in our rote phrases. “God bless you,” after we sneeze. “Baruch HaShem,” “Blessed is the Name,” as an answer to “How...

Joseph’s reunification with brothers marks a cinematic milestone

Joseph’s reunification with brothers marks a ‘cinematic milestone’

By Maharat Rori Picker NeissPublished December 21, 2023

Were I to be the director of the film version of our biblical stories, a moment in this week’s Torah portion would certainly be one that I would design as a climax.  We open with a speech by Judah, the longest oration in the Book of Genesis, as he...

Understanding the story of G-ds covenant with Abraham

Understanding the story of G-d’s covenant with Abraham

Rabbi Lane Steinger, Rabbi Emeritus, Shir Hadash Reconstructionist CommunityPublished October 23, 2023

About a week before a Shabbat or Yom Tov, I peruse the Torah Portion for that particular occasion. Generally, I focus on one or two parts of the Parashah, into which I delve more deeply. When Shabbat Lekh L’kha approaches, I go over the Portion from...

Three alternative ways to fast that aren’t about food

Three alternative ways to fast that aren’t about food

Avital Kadosh, Special To The Jewish LightPublished September 18, 2023

As Yom Kippur quickly approaches, I am struck by the meaning behind the rituals and customs that surround our holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Chief among them: fasting for 25 hours. The Torah commands us to abstain from eating and drinking between...

Its true, Israelite kings had horsing around problems, wives galore, and scroll management issues

It’s true, Israelite kings had horsing around problems, wives galore, and scroll management issues

BY RABBI DR. ZEV FARBERPublished September 7, 2023

When the first draft of Deuteronomy was penned in the seventh century, Judah was an independent power again after a century of Assyrian rule. Optimism reigned. This is why the easily predictable but totally unexpected destruction of Jerusalem by the...

Life is a treasure

Life is a treasure

By Rabbi Ze’ev Smason & Barbara A. OlevitchPublished August 25, 2023

Pamela R. Winnick told a fascinating story about her father’s illness in the Wall Street Journal on July 21, 2006.  Medical residents had repeatedly asked the family to agree to disconnect his life supports. They claimed that the patient would have...

Why saying thank you after a meal is a kind and spirtual act

Why saying “thank you” after a meal is a kind and spirtual act

Rabbi Lori LevinePublished August 3, 2023

On a hard and arduous journey, one plagued by hunger, thirst, conflict and fear, it can be difficult to keep the end in mind. This is especially true of a 40-year journey during which an entire generation lost both the chance to see the destination and...

Is God an artist?

Is God an artist?

RABBI JAMES PONET, My Jewish LearningPublished July 27, 2023

Long ago, my friend Michael Kovner, today a distinguished Israeli painter, lamented that the artist as an archetype is foreign to Jewish culture and tradition. Bezalel, the biblical figure chosen as the architect of the mishkan, the transportable wilderness...

Jeremiah seated in the ruins of Jerusalem, Eduard Bendemann, 1837. (JTA collage, Wikimedia Commons)

Tisha B’Av’s central text suggests ‘how’ we should talk about Israel

Published July 26, 2023

(JTA) — This week, the Knesset began the process of overhauling Israel’s judiciary, removing the only checks and balances that currently exist in Israel’s government. It has done so with the slimmest of possible majorities, in defiance of the months...

Torah portion is a welcome reminder to reflect on the journey of the past year

Torah portion is a welcome reminder to reflect on the journey of the past year

By Rabbi Brigitte RosenbergPublished July 13, 2023

Amid this week’s double parashah, Matot-Massei, there are 49 verses, a lot of detail, describing the 42 journeys of the Jewish people through the desert, to the Land of Israel. It is almost like reading the journal of an explorer, with specific details...

The power of mindfulness meditation

The power of mindfulness meditation

Rabbi Andrea Goldstein, Director of the Jewish Mindfulness Center of St. LouisPublished July 13, 2023

One of the most beautiful teachings in Judaism is that every human being is created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God. One of the practical implications of this teaching is that we all have enormous potential to realize the values of generosity,...

In Judaism, wisdom is found where the wild things are

In Judaism, wisdom is found where the wild things are

Published July 12, 2023

This story originally appeared on My Jewish Learning. (JTA) — Several weeks ago, I experienced the delights and the challenges of being on retreat in the high desert of New Mexico. Each morning, the sun flooded my cozy straw-bale house. Afternoon...

Load More Stories