The Jewish Light reported last week on the Jewish Federation of St. Louis' annual campaign results, and due to the loss of a few major donations, giving trends and the economy, the campaign itself was down from 2010. The organization also touted some...

"To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war." - Winston Churchill, at a White House luncheon hosted by President Eisenhower, June 26, 1954 Tensions mount between Iran and a good chunk of the world, most notably the United States and Europe. Terroristic...

Nothing new under the desert sun in Iran. The Islamist leadership is starting out 2012 with its usual jagged chin forward: • Iranian leaders, in the face of enhanced economic sanctions, have threatened to illegally block the Strait of Hormuz (through...

It's not common for citizens of Israel, a haven of democracy in a historically repressive region, to feel simpatico with those in surrounding nations. Yet as matters of gender equality move to the media forefront across the Middle East in the aftermath...

The Jewish population of St. Louis, if assumed to be in the 50-60,000 range, falls well below that of Montreal, listed as having the 24th largest core Jewish population of world cities.  Yet if the Gateway City and environs were a freestanding country,...

During this season of Hanukkah, it is particularly sad to see extremely disturbing acts of violence in the modern Jewish State of Israel by Jews against fellow Jews. While the holiday celebrates the victory of Maccabeans against their enemies, the historic...

Reigning National League Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun reportedly failed a drug test for banned substances taken during the 2011 playoffs (See p. 7A).  It looks bad for the Hebrew Hammer - despite his protestations of innocence, 13 players have appealed...

Not a moment too soon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the plug on one of most pathetically inept marketing campaigns since New Coke or the Edsel.  The ads, according to JTA's Uriel Heilman, were produced by Israel's Ministry of Immigrant...

Just when it seems that the Palestinian people cannot not be more ill-served by its so-called "official leadership," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshal have again proved their ineptitude. The question is, are...

The news is gloomy these days, for sure, which makes it even harder to look for those morsels that ought comprise our Thanksgiving-season gratitude.Domestically, political types seem more desirous of destroying their opponents than creating governing...

The most recent report by the United Nations-affiliated International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the worst fears of Israel and most of the Arab states in the already volatile Middle East: Iran is making continued and substantial progress toward...

Nov. 6-12 is Media Literacy Week, during which we are urged to focus on how we view, process and react to news and information.  Groups like the local Gateway Media Literacy Partners (www.gmlpstl.org) promote the importance of critical reading skills...