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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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At Manhattan's only Reform Jewish day school, the relatively new Makor program puts students into direct conversation with texts from the Torah, Mishnah, and other rabbinic writings. (Courtesy Rodeph Sholom School)

My kids found diversity and serious Jewish study at this unique Jewish day school

Jonah Lowenfeld, JTAPublished September 3, 2025

(New York Jewish Week) — Rodeph Sholom School diversity drew our family in when we realized that our kids’ Jewish lives needed more than Shabbat and synagogue — they needed a Jewish day school where learning and community come together. |...

A vigil organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland campus took place under court order on Oct. 7, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Judge lifts Pitt ban, reinstates SJP chapter amid campus protests

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished September 3, 2025

(JTA) — The Pitt SJP chapter was reinstated by a federal judge, who ordered the University of Pittsburgh to lift its suspension, saying the school unfairly restricted the pro-Palestinian group’s ability to recruit students as the new school year...

Michael Staenberg speaks in May 2009 at the grand opening of the Jewish Community Center’s Staenberg Family Complex. Photo: Dennis Caldwell

Staenberg Foundation turns 20 with $54M in community impact

By Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished September 2, 2025

  If an organization supporting the St. Louis Jewish community has a financial need, there’s a good chance it has received funding from the Staenberg Family Foundation. This year, the foundation celebrates a significant milestone....

Security guards stand watch in front of a synagogue on Oct. 9, 2023 in Los Angeles. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

Jewish groups rally for synagogue security grants amid rising threats

JTA StaffPublished September 2, 2025

(JTA) — Six major Jewish organizations that have pushed to expand federal funding for synagogue security are urging Jewish institutions to apply again for the grants despite any concerns about the Trump administration and its terms for grantees. In...

In Warsaw, Poland, on May 7, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, Maxime Prevot, attends the Informal Meeting of the EU Ministers for Foreign Affairs at the Polish Army Museum. (Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto)

Belgium to recognize Palestinian statehood at UN

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished September 2, 2025

(JTA) — Belgium has become the latest country to announce plans to recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly this month in New York City. In an announcement on X Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot said the...

Liev Schreiber, Austin Butler and Vincent D'Onofrio in Caught Stealing. 
Liev Schreiber, Austin Butler and Vincent D’Onofrio in Caught Stealing. Photo by Niko Tavernise

Film featuring Liev Schreiber as a tough, Hasidic mobster open all around St. Louis

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished September 1, 2025

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. Darren Aronofsky’s most formative encounter with Haredi Jews may have come when he was an 18-year-old in Israel at the...

When a racing legend told the 'Jewish Light' we got it wrong

When a racing legend told the ‘Jewish Light’ we got it wrong

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 1, 2025

Sometimes, the best stories don’t start in the newsroom — they start in the archives. While researching nominees for the St. Louis Jewish Sports Hall of Fame at the Jewish Community Center, I was scrolling through our digital archives when a letter...

Confessions of a honey cake hater turned recruit

Confessions of a honey cake hater turned recruit

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 1, 2025

It’s happening again. Three weeks before Rosh Hashanah, my inbox, analytics and fragile peace of mind have once again been overrun by honey cake. Back in 2022, I confessed to the St. Louis Jewish community that I couldn’t stand the stuff. In...

Sylvan Adams (right) hosts an event for Make-A-Wish Israel at his Tel Aviv home with organization co-founders Denise and Avi Bar-Aharon. Credit: @lans production, Aug. 27, 2025.

Israel ‘failing miserably’ in media war, warns Sylvan Adams

Etgar Lefkovits (JNS)Published August 29, 2025

Israel is “failing miserably” in the communications war against Hamas, and needs to take this deteriorating situation, fueled by a trillion-dollar campaign by Qatar, much more seriously, the president of the World Jewish Congress’s Israel Region...

Smoke and dust rise over residential areas during Israeli army operations in Gaza City, Gaza, Aug. 25, 2025. (Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Quinnipiac poll: Half of U.S. voters say Israel’s Gaza actions amount to genocide

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished August 29, 2025

(JTA) — A new poll found that half of U.S. voters — including 77% of Democrats — believe that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide, in a finding that adds to mounting signals of deep public disapproval of Israel’s operations there. The...

A tear falls down Linnea Opsahl’s cheek as she joins her mother Laura during a vigil at Lynnhurst Park following a shooting earlier in the day at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. August 27, 2025.  REUTERS/Tim Evans

From Jews in Minneapolis: This is Not About Us

Libby Parker and Ethan RobertsPublished August 28, 2025

Summer in Minnesota began with unspeakable violence: the murder of Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, the attempted assassination of Senator John Hoffman, his wife Yvette, and several other elected officials. It is ending with yet...

Former U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan answers questions during the daily press briefing at the White House, May 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Ex-Biden aides unload on Netanyahu: ‘He sabotaged ceasefire’

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished August 28, 2025

(JTA) — Top administration officials under former President Joe Biden are speaking out against Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza and criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he sabotaged ceasefire negotiations last...

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