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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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President Donald Trump is seen in an Oval Office address on June 4, 2025. (Screenshot)

Trump announces ‘complete and total ceasefire’ between Israel and Iran

Andrew Silow-Carroll JTAPublished June 23, 2025

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to announce that Israel and Iran have agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire.” In a post sent shortly after 6 p.m. ET, the president said the ceasefire would start to take effect in about six hours...

Ladue’s first Hall of Fame class honors 3 Jewish legends—but one name is missing

Ladue’s first Hall of Fame class honors 3 Jewish legends—but one name is missing

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 23, 2025

The Ladue School District has officially launched its Athletic Hall of Fame, inducting its first-ever class of athletes, coaches and championship teams. The inaugural 2025 class includes 25 honorees whose careers have shaped the district’s legacy—both...

Dr. Gal Rosen (right) examines a 6-day-old girl in Tel Aviv on June 16, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Magen David Adom.

Israeli rescue workers risk all amid missile strikes

Canaan Lidor (JNS)Published June 20, 2025

(JNS) -- Israeli rescue workers are risking everything as Iranian missile strikes devastate cities across the country. Defying orders to wait for clearance, these first responders often enter unstable buildings to pull out civilians—driven by duty,...

Men from the 329th Infantry at Rosh Hashanah Eve services in 1944 at a location between Beaugency and Orleans, France. The image is featured in the new PBS documentary ‘GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II,’ which airs in St. Louis at 9 p.m. April 11 on the Nine Network. Photo courtesy National Museum of American Jewish Military History

An age-old antisemitic trope about Jews avoiding services re-emerges as Israel and Iran are in conflict

By Arno Rosenfeld, THE FORWARDPublished June 20, 2025

(THE FORWARD) -- As tensions grow over the Israel-Iran conflict, far-right influencers are reviving an antisemitic trope that claims Jews avoid military service and manipulate American soldiers into fighting wars for Israel. These false narratives echo...

Edan Alexander, an American taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, returned his hometown in Tenafly, New Jersey, on June 19, 2025. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Edan Alexander returns home free

By Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished June 20, 2025

(JTA) -- Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli soldier freed after 584 days in Hamas captivity, received a hero’s welcome in New Jersey. His emotional return marks the longest any known hostage was held since Oct. 7 and highlights ongoing concerns for...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visits the grave of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during his official visit to Beirut, Lebanon, on June 3, 2025. (Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Trump delays Iran move as missiles fall

By Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished June 20, 2025

As Israeli cities come under renewed missile fire from Iran, Donald Trump says he’ll decide within two weeks whether the U.S. will intervene. Meanwhile, Iran flatly rejects renewed talks unless Israel halts its bombing campaign, intensifying global...

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...

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