Once again, with dismal predictability, the old pattern has returned. First, the Hamas terrorist regime in the Gaza Strip pounds Israeli towns like Sderot with repeated attacks with deadly Kassem rockets, causing numerous deaths and injuries among innocent...

On Feb. 27, I returned to St. Louis after my first visit to Israel, a 10-day mission coordinated by Focus Israel, a joint venture of Jewish Federation and Makom -- a collaborative initiative of the Jewish Agency's Education Department, community leadership...

The Jewish Federation-sponsored Focus Israel initiative, designed to strengthen ties between the St. Louis Jewish community and Israel, recently sent a delegation of rabbis, educators, and lay leaders to Israel for a 10-day journey. From those of us who...

Even before it begins the Arab summit scheduled for the latter part of March in Damascus, is in serious trouble; there are several political discords among Arab states as well as the region's continuing violent conflicts. Whereas a resolution to the crisis...

The grave humanitarian crisis in Darfur in southwestern Sudan in which a minimum of 200,000 innocent Darfurians have been killed and over 2.5 million expelled from their homes at the hands of Sudanese government-backed militias called the Janjaweed, drags...

NEWTON, Mass. -- Steven Spielberg announced recently that he had resigned as the artistic director of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, writing in a public statement, "I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual." Later...

While history is based upon fact, it must always be remembered that history doesn't write itself. While this might seem like an obvious statement, it is one of the most ignored facts in history. Because the fact is, writing history is like writing a newspaper:...

Our February Cultural Leadership meeting took place at St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church on Sunday, Feb. 17, which is the church home to one of my fellow Cultural Leadership friends, Mimi Brown. Mimi explained the history of the church...

The St. Louis Jewish Light strongly encourages our readers to take part in the Putting Kids First ballot initiative for the Nov. 4 ballot in St. Louis County. As noted in these pages last week in a story by Jill Kassander, the Super Tuesday presidential...

The 2007 Jewish Federation Campaign raised a total of $11.03 million, setting a new all-time record in the 107-year history of the communitywide fundraising organization. Overall fundraising, including endowments and other gifts totaled an impressive...

WASHINGTON -- Pro-Israel activists across the United States should be congratulated for confronting the recent Fourth Annual "Israeli Apartheid Week" -- part of the ongoing campaign to vilify the Jewish State. Facing up to the "Israel-is-an-apartheid-state"...

2007 was a year of progress and very significant achievements for Jewish Federation. Guided by a new strategic plan, Federation's major goal is to significantly increase funds for Jewish needs in general and focus on three major areas -- senior adult...