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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

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Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin and his team have been greeting the stranded throngs at the airport, ensuring the hundreds of Jews in limbo are being looked after.

“They took us in”: A St. Louis story of refuge, faith and fear in Cyprus

By Moshe New, Chabad.orgPublished June 19, 2025

(Chabad.org) —When 1,500 exhausted travelers disembarked from a cruise ship at Cyprus’ Limassol port yesterday, they found something unexpected waiting for them: a full-scale humanitarian operation run by a handful of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries...

From knishes to closings: the unforgettable ads of Jules and Lee Hutkin

From knishes to closings: the unforgettable ads of Jules and Lee Hutkin

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 19, 2025

Jules and Lee Hutkin were among the Jewish Light’s most prolific advertisers—never shy about showing their names, their phone numbers, or their handsome faces. Whether behind a deli counter, running a food shop, or working as real estate partners,...

From Left: Géraldine Woessner, editor-in-chief of the French news magazine Le Point, Washington University Chancellor Andrew D. Martin and 
M. Luis Vassy, president of Sciences Po.

What WashU learned in Paris about fighting antisemitism

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 19, 2025

When university leaders, students, scholars and policymakers gathered in Paris earlier this month, it wasn’t for ceremony—it was for strategy. The French-American Forum on Antisemitism, hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and France’s...

Smoke billows from a building at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel following an Iranian missile attack, on June 19, 2025. (Maya Levin/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian missile strikes Israeli hospital as Trump remains coy about whether US will intervene

By Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished June 19, 2025

(JTA) -- As Iran escalates its assault on Israel by striking a hospital, Donald Trump remains publicly noncommittal about potential U.S. intervention. With pressure mounting from Israeli leaders and conflicting reports about Trump’s plans, his ambiguity...

From left: Alex Rich, Kevin Glazer and Ben Poremba

Meet the St. Louis Jewish artist turning collage into a spiritual practice

Published June 18, 2025

What do you get when you combine a collage artist, a camera and a conversation about identity? The newest episode of "Jews in the Lou" drops this week and features Kevin Glazer, a multidisciplinary St. Louis artist who’s using scissors, style and spirituality...

Tucker Carlson, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds  of Florida, U.S. President Donald Trump, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio appear on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, July 15, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As Trump signals willingness to join Iran fight, tensions roil MAGA movement

Ami Eden, JTAPublished June 18, 2025

(JTA) -- If, as Irving Kristol wrote, a neoconservative is a liberal who’s been mugged by reality, then what do you call an “America First” president who is cheering Israel’s attacks on Iran, increasingly claiming credit for them and seemingly...

The photo in the jewelry box: What I didn’t know about Mom and Dad

The photo in the jewelry box: What I didn’t know about Mom and Dad

Ellen Futterman, Editor-in-ChiefPublished June 17, 2025

I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents lately. Maybe it’s because this year marks milestone anniversaries of their deaths. Mom died five years ago this month, not long after the pandemic shut down pretty much everything. She died on what would’ve...

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander in his Manhattan office, July 18, 2024.

ICE arrests St. Louis native and NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander

By Jacob Kornbluh, The ForwardPublished June 17, 2025

Immigration agents arrested Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate, in immigration court on Tuesday. “While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained...

How a reluctant shopkeeper built Brilliant Antiques

How a reluctant shopkeeper built Brilliant Antiques

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 17, 2025

Bud and Arline Brilliant’s "Brilliant Antiques" first appeared in the St. Louis Jewish Light on May 23, 1973. Their ads continued regularly through Dec. 1, 1982. By 1976, the ads began listing only Arline — a quiet handoff that would become lasting...

Approximately 1500 Birthright Israel participants board a cruise ship in Ashdod, Israel headed for Larnaca, Cyrpus. (Erez Uzir/Birthright Israel)

The Birthright odyssey: 1500 tourists set sail for Cyprus as Iran-Israel conflict unfolds

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished June 17, 2025

(JTA) -- As the Israel-Iran conflict halts air travel, 1,500 Birthright Israel participants were evacuated by cruise ship to Cyprus in a bold rescue mission. The unprecedented maritime operation, involving Israeli forces and support from Florida Gov....

On the last Friday of the season at Camp Ramah Nyack in 2019, anyone spending the next year in Israel is called up and invited to dance with the Israeli staffers in a Zionist celebration. (Courtesy of Ramah Nyack)

Their counselors stuck in Israel, US Jewish camps are putting out ‘Help Wanted’ signs

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished June 17, 2025

(JTA) -- As the Israel-Iran war halts flights, Jewish summer camps across the U.S. are scrambling to fill gaps left by over 100 missing Israeli counselors. Camps like NJY, Ramah Berkshires, and Eden Village are now urgently hiring to maintain programs,...

These countries are harshly critical of Israel in Gaza but have its back with Iran. Why?

Ron Kampeas, JTAPublished June 17, 2025

(JTA) A decade ago, Europe and Israel clashed over how to stop Iran’s nuclear program, with Britain, France, and Germany backing the Iran nuclear deal. Today, as tensions between Israel and Iran escalate toward open conflict, Europe and Israel appear...

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