Skip to Main Content
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

Top Story

Transforming the J in Chesterfield: A community effort

Transforming the J in Chesterfield: A community effort

Published July 21, 2025

The St. Louis Jewish Community Center (the J) is nearing completion of a major renovation of its Marilyn Fox Building in Chesterfield, part of the “Creating the J for Tomorrow” project. The effort, which wraps up in September, marks the end of...

NEA boots ADL boycott after backlash from Jewish leaders

NEA boots ADL boycott after backlash from Jewish leaders

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished July 20, 2025

The National Education Association has officially rejected a push to boycott Holocaust and antisemitism education materials produced by the Anti-Defamation League, a decision that drew praise from Jewish leaders across the political spectrum but also...

Enemies. Friends. The last Jews in Kabul. Their story became a stage hit.

Enemies. Friends. The last Jews in Kabul. Their story became a stage hit.

By Judith Newmark, Special to the Jewish LightPublished July 20, 2025

At a rehearsal about 20 years ago, Seth Rozin - director, playwright, artistic director of Philadelphia’s InterAct Theatre - was approached by one of the actors, a New York Times in his hand. “Look at this,” the actor said. He pointed to a story...

Four Women, One Torah—Now with four names

Four Women, One Torah—Now with four names

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished July 20, 2025

Last week, we turned to our readers with a mystery: a photo in the Jewish Light from the late 1970s or early 1980s at Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel (BSKI), showing four women and Rabbi Benson Skoff gathered around an open Torah scroll. We had zero names....

Rabbi Ze'ev Smason

Feeling burned out? This St. Louis rabbi wants to send you a spark

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished July 17, 2025

Rabbi Ze’ev Smason has a new weekly project, and it’s one he hopes will bring people just a little closer to themselves. With Spiritual Sparks, the longtime Olivette rabbi sends a spark of inspiration each week—short reflections meant to nourish...

A kosher-for-Passover bottle of Coca-Cola, distinguished from ordinary Coca-Cola bottles by its yellow cap and special "hechsher." Credit: Mark H. Anbinder via Flickr.com.

‘Passover Coke’ could become obsolete as Trump says Coca-Cola will use ‘REAL’ sugar in US soda

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished July 17, 2025

(JTA) — A uniquely American Passover tradition could become a thing of the past, after President Donald Trump announced that he had successfully pressed Coke to change the formulation of its signature drink in the United States. “I have been...

Brown University students call for divestment from their pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus' Main Green in Providence, Rhode Island, April 24, 2024. (Anibal Martel/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Antisemitic assaults and vandalism are down on campuses

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished July 17, 2025

(JTA) — The number of antisemitic assaults and acts of vandalism on college campuses fell sharply in the last school year, according to Hillel International. And the pro-Palestinian encampments that ignited fear among many Jewish college students...

800 Washington University students came together on Thursday, October 12th outside the Danforth University Center on campus for a gathering in support of Israel through song, prayer, and testimonials.

Why one Jewish teen chose WashU over Columbia

By Olivia GoldsmithPublished July 17, 2025

This article was produced as part of the New York Jewish Week’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around New York City to report on issues that affect their lives. Since she was little, Lindsay, who recently graduated...

Four women, one Torah, zero names: can you help us ID them?

Four women, one Torah, zero names: can you help us ID them?

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished July 16, 2025

Every so often, a photo from the Jewish Light archives reminds us why preserving local Jewish history matters. This one, taken at Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel (BSKI), shows a group gathered reverently around a Torah scroll. At the far left is Rabbi Benson...

Billy Joel performs at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, May 19, 2023.

‘No matter what, I will always be a Jew.’ Billy Joel opens up about his family’s Holocaust history

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished July 16, 2025

In the second installment of And So It Goes, HBO’s new two-part documentary about Billy Joel, the Piano Man explains why he wore a yellow Star of David in August 2017, during his residency at Madison Square Garden, in his most extensive filmed account...

St. Louis dressmaker’s legacy adds new thread to Holocaust story and exhibition

St. Louis dressmaker’s legacy adds new thread to Holocaust story and exhibition

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished July 16, 2025

When Arlen Chaleff got a call from the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, she didn’t hesitate. Within moments, she was digging through old file cabinets, pulling out patterns along with  naturalization papers and anything else she could...

Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, attends an endorsement event with the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Zohran Mamdani reportedly tells business leaders he will ‘discourage’ the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished July 16, 2025

(JTA) — New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdan, told business leaders that he would seek to discourage the use of the phrase “globalize the intifada” but continued not to outright denounce it, the New York Times reported...

Load More Stories