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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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Smoke rises from behind residential areas after the explosions in Doha, Qatar on September 09, 2025. Attack on Doha targets senior Hamas officials, top Israeli officials tell Channel 12. (Ali Altunkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Israel strikes Hamas leaders in Qatar, shaking Mideast politics

By Grace Gilson, JTAPublished September 9, 2025

Israel has struck at Hamas targets inside Qatar, in a dramatic escalation of its efforts to kill leaders of the terror group it is battling in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump, who this week warned Hamas to accept a ceasefire offer or face consequences,...

From Auschwitz to St. Louis: a son carries his father’s story

From Auschwitz to St. Louis: a son carries his father’s story

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 8, 2025

When the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum opens its doors on Sept. 28 for “Survivor Hour: Josh Schonfeld,” it won’t just be another lecture. This free community program offers a rare chance to hear how one family’s story of survival...

They came for school. They found a Jewish home in St. Louis

They came for school. They found a Jewish home in St. Louis

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 8, 2025

In 2005, JGrads started on the Washington University campus with a few Shabbat dinners, a couple of ambitious grad students and the idea that St. Louis needed something more for Jewish graduate students. The thought was to create something that wasn’t...

Police and rescue personnel at the scene of a terror attack at Ramot Junction, near the entrance to Jerusalem, Sept. 8, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Six murdered in Jerusalem shooting by ‘Palestinian resistance fighters’

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished September 8, 2025

Six Israelis were murdered and a dozen more wounded in a mass-shooting attack by Palestinian terrorists in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot on Monday morning. The slain victims were identified as Yosef David, 43, from Jerusalem; Sarah Mendelson,...

Peter Sellers 1973 by Allan Warren

Peter Sellers at 100: The hidden Jewish story behind the comedy icon

Benjamin Ivry, The ForwardPublished September 7, 2025

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. Peter Sellers, the English Jewish comedian who was born 100 years ago on Sept. 8, 1925, lived at a time before leading...

Photo and recipe from ‘Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem, and Beyond,’ © 2025 by Tevletz Barhany-	John. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

From brisket to babka: The Jewish foods that tell our story

By Margi Lenga Kahn, Special to the Jewish LightPublished September 7, 2025

Jews are the people of the Diaspora. Beginning in the first century, and then over and over again through the years and around the world, our people have been forced to leave their homes and scatter elsewhere. As a result, our rich culinary traditions...

JCC Fox Building renovation brings new life to Chesterfield

JCC Fox Building renovation brings new life to Chesterfield

By Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished September 5, 2025

A first-time visitor to the Jewish Community Center’s Marilyn Fox Building might not guess the facility is 28 years old. Inside and out, it looks brand new, following a comprehensive 15-month renovation. On Thursday, Sept. 4, the center took the...

Michael Schill, President of Northwestern University, testifies at a hearing called "Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos" before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. University leaders are being asked to testify by House Republicans about how colleges have responded to pro-Palestinian protests and allegations of antisemitism on their campuses. (Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)

Northwestern’s Jewish president resigns amid pressures over handling of campus antisemitism

Andrew Lapin, JTAPublished September 4, 2025

(JTA) — After more than a year of strife over his handling of campus antisemitism, the Jewish president of Northwestern University says he is stepping down weeks before the start of the school’s fall semester. Michael Schill’s resignation...

Will Goldstein and son with friend Dave Streibig at the Missouri State Handball Championships.

How one St. Louis Jewish family built a sports dynasty that lasted a century

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 4, 2025

There must be something about high walls and hitting a ball as hard as you can that resonates with St. Louis Jews. In the 1970s and ’80s, Jewish racquetball champions helped put St. Louis on the national map. But long before racquetball had its moment,...

Rabbi Mark Shook brings Jewish lens to Bible and Qur’an study

Rabbi Mark Shook brings Jewish lens to Bible and Qur’an study

Published September 3, 2025

This year, Saturday Morning Bible Study will be divided into two parts, both from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. either in person at Temple Israel or on Zoom. | RELATED: Rabbi Mark Shook honored for five decades of service to police and community Part I: A Jewish...

Volunteers with the St. Louis nonprofit organization Joy Petalers.

Giving back, one bouquet at a time: The ‘Joy Petalers’ spread smiles with recycled blooms

Ellen Futterman, Editor-in-ChiefPublished September 3, 2025

It should come as no surprise that many Jewish Light Unsung Heroes of the past continue to expand their volunteer repertoire with gusto. Take Susan K. Goldberg, a member of the Unsung Heroes Class of 2016 and self-described “professional volunteer.”...

AEPi brothers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., painted the campus rock on Yom Hashoah. Credit: Courtesy.

AEPi builds out toolkit to help fix campus antisemitism

Rob Derdiger (JNS)Published September 3, 2025

The AEPi antisemitism toolkit is the fraternity’s latest effort to prepare Jewish students and administrators for the new academic year, aiming to protect campuses from rising hate and strengthen student leadership. Recently, several Jewish organizations,...

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