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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

Sports

Sam Salz is likely the first Orthodox Jew to appear in a Division I college football game

Published November 18, 2024

Sam Salz’s first taste of NCAA Division I football came during a kickoff — known in football as a “special teams” play. For most football players, kickoffs are in fact routine. But if anything about the play was special, it was Salz’s presence...

Leo Durocher.

This World Series echoes 1941, when Cardinals legend Leo Durocher battled Hitler from the dugout

By Rafael MedoffPublished October 28, 2024

As the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers face off in this year’s World Series, some recall the first time the two teams met in the Fall Classic, in 1941—a contest remembered for one of baseball’s most famous plays. But that World Series was...

St. Louisan and Kansas City Chiefs fan Traci Goldstein Holdener.

Jewish women from St. Louis trek to KC for Taylor, Travis and football glory

BY KEVIN DEUTSCH, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished October 23, 2024

KANSAS CITY — Move over, Taylor Swift. A band of die-hard, Jewish fans of the Kansas City Chiefs are bringing a little yiddishkeit — and lots of girl power — to Chiefs Kingdom.  Across St. Louis County on game days, these Jewish women of all ages...

Mat DeWinters, the J’s director of sports, recreation and day camps.

Play world-famous courses like Bandon Dunes without leaving the J—try the new golf simulator!

Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished October 17, 2024

A golf trip to Bandon Dunes in Oregon or The Belfry in England means booking tee times many months in advance, making travel plans and a hefty budget. Or you could play those two golf courses virtually for the cost of a dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls. That’s...

Top row, L-R: Jordan Harris, Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox and Luke Kunin. Bottom row, L-R: Jason Zucker, Zach Hyman, Jack Hughes and Jeremy Swayman. (Getty Images; Design by Grace Yagel)

All the Jewish NHL players to watch in the 2024-2025 season

Jacob Gurvis, JTAPublished October 8, 2024

As the NHL drops the puck on the 2024-2025 hockey season, Jewish fans will have plenty to root for. The season officially began last week with a pair of games in Prague between Jack and Luke Hughes’s New Jersey Devils and Devon Levi and Jason Zucker’s...

At left, the book cover of Mark and Matthew Jacob's Abe Saperstein biography (Courtesy). At right, Saperstein, far left, in the earliest known team photo of the Globetrotters, from the 1930–1931 season. (Berkley Family Collection)

The remarkable true story of how a Jewish immigrant helped shaped basketball as we know it today

Jacob Gurvis, JTAPublished October 3, 2024

When basketball superstar Stephen Curry sunk a series of three-point shots to help Team USA clinch the Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer, it’s unlikely the four-time NBA champion was thinking about Abe Saperstein. But as a new biography of...

Aug 28, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chaim Bloom, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.

Chaim Bloom will be the Cardinals general manager, after next season

Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished September 30, 2024

The St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, Sept. 30 announced that Chaim Bloom will succeed John Mozeliak as president of baseball operations following the 2025 season. Bloom, who is Jewish, has worked for the Cardinals as an advisor since January 2024. Bloom...

A fan wears a paper bag over his head during a game between the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland Athletics at Guaranteed Rate Field, Sept. 14, 2024, in Chicago. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)

For Jewish White Sox fans, this season has made a bad year even worse

Jacob Gurvis, JTAPublished September 23, 2024

For as long as Rabbi Jeremy Fine has been alive, he’s been a fan of the Chicago White Sox. This Opening Day, he hoped that his team would provide a welcome diversion from what has been an excruciating year. Alas, this was not the season.  “It...

Ian Seidenfeld during the men's singles MS6 semifinal at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, Sept. 5, 2024, in Paris. (Elsa/Getty Images)

Nephew of JFS CEO Miriam Seidenfeld wins Paralympic Bronze Medal

Jacob GurvisPublished September 5, 2024

Three years after pulling off an upset to win gold in his Paralympics debut, Jewish table tennis star Ian Seidenfeld, the nephew of St. Louisan and Jewish Family Services CEO Miriam Seidenfeld, earned a bronze medal in Paris on Thursday. Seidenfeld,...

Ami Dadaon competes in the men's 100-meter freestyle S4 heat at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, Aug. 30, 2024, in Nanterre, France. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Ami Dadaon wins Israel’s second Paralympics gold medal after setting new record in 100m freestyle

Jacob Gurvis, JTAPublished August 30, 2024

(JTA) — Israeli swimmer Ami Dadaon won a gold medal Friday in the men’s 100-meter freestyle S4, his third career Paralympic gold medal and Israel’s second in as many days in Paris. Dadaon, 23, finished the race with a time of 1:20.25, finishing...

Asaf Yasur celebrates victory against Ali Can Ozcan of Turkey in the men's K44 - 58-kilogram gold medal contest at the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympic Games, Aug. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Asaf Yasur wins gold in taekwondo, Israel’s first Paris Paralympics medal

Jacob Gurvis, JTAPublished August 30, 2024

(JTA) — Israeli Asaf Yasur won a gold medal Thursday in taekwondo, Israel’s first medal at the Paris Paralympics. Yasur defeated Turkish opponent Ali Can Ozcan by a score of 19-12 in the gold medal match for the 58-kilogram weight class in the...

Demonstrators gathered outside the South African Football Association building to demand that FIFA suspend Israel's membership, March 16, 2024, in Johannesburg. (Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Israel soccer could be banned by FIFA this week. Here’s what you need to know.

Jacob Gurvis, JTAPublished August 28, 2024

Just one month after Israel’s national soccer team returned to the Olympics for the first time in nearly 50 years, the country is facing a potential ban from international competition in the world’s most popular sport. FIFA, the global soccer governing...

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