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

War In Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Netanyahu tells Congress Israel ‘will not relent’ until it defeats Hamas

Ben Sales, JTAPublished July 24, 2024

In a defiant speech to the U.S. Congress, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting in Gaza until Israel achieves “total victory” over Hamas and, in the face of virulent opposition at home and abroad, argued that the war was a shared fight for...

Or Garti takes a selfie with her campers at Camp Ben Frankel.

An ‘American Dream’: How 18 Israeli kids spent their summer at Camp Ben Frankel

BY MOLLY LEVINE, JEWISH LIGHT INTERNPublished July 24, 2024

MAKANDA, Ill. – For the past month, 18 Israeli children have explored the ins and outs of something foreign to them: Jewish sleepaway summer camp.  “I was nervous but more happy because I [knew] that I was going to meet tons of friends,” said...

Family members of Israeli hostages held in Gaza meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2023. (Israeli Government Press Office)

Netanyahu meets with hostage families in DC as pressure mounts for a deal

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished July 23, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington, D.C. with families of Israeli hostages, one of his first stops on a highly anticipated trip to the United States and a sign of how much focus is being placed on talks over a hostage release...

Pictures of civilians held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem, Nov. 22, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Israel, Hamas agree to hostage deal framework, PA-led force in Gaza

Akiva Van Koningsveld, JNSPublished July 11, 2024

(JNS) The Hamas terror group has agreed to a hostages-for-ceasefire framework and mediators are negotiating the details and implementation, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday night. The Post‘s David Ignatius said that though the framework...

A statue of Anne Frank in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nov. 26, 2010. The statue was defaced with graffiti reading Gaza on July 9, 2024. (Gus Maussen via Creative Commons)

Anne Frank statue in Amsterdam tagged with ‘Gaza’ graffiti

Andrew Lapin, JTAPublished July 10, 2024

A statue of Anne Frank in Amsterdam was defaced Tuesday, with the word “Gaza” painted in red on the base. The statue sits in a public park near the famous annex where Frank and her family hid from the Nazis, and where they were later discovered.  Mayor...

The most important tattoo I ever did’: Artists volunteer to ink Oct. 7 survivors

“The most important tattoo I ever did’: Artists volunteer to ink Oct. 7 survivors

By Rebecca Massel, The ForwardPublished July 8, 2024

The artists who gathered in Tel Aviv Thursday to offer free tattoos to survivors of Oct. 7 know their work is rooted in trauma. They want it to be a source of strength. Twenty tattooists — half from Israel, half from abroad — are volunteering...

Mothers  of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza protest for their release outside the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, July 8, 2024. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Netanyahu issues list of demands for ceasefire deal as pressure mounts

Ron Kampeas, JTAPublished July 8, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out conditions for a ceasefire deal with Hamas as pressure ramped up at home and abroad for an outcome that would bring home the more than 100 Israeli hostages held by the terror group in Gaza. Netanyahu’s...

Police officers use water cannons as haredi Orthodox Jewish men block a main highway during a protest against drafting into the Israeli army on June 2, 2024 in Bnei Brak, Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Haredim warn of ‘religious war’ after Israel Supreme Court orders yeshiva draft

By Susan Greene, JTAPublished June 25, 2024

BNEI BRAK, Israel — Members of Israel’s Haredi community are warning of a religious war after this country’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the government must start drafting yeshiva students into its military.  “If our young men have to...

An undated photo of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. (Jon Polin)

Netanyahu recommits to Biden’s proposed hostage deal after families release grim video

Ron KampeasPublished June 24, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recommitted to pursuing the release of all hostages under the terms of a deal that includes a ceasefire after families of hostages released gruesome video of three on the day of their abduction. Netanyahu had...

UNRWA distributes flour to Palestinian refugees in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Nov. 22, 2023. (Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

Victims of Oct. 7 attack sue UNRWA for allegedly laundering money for Hamas

Ron Kampeas, JTAPublished June 24, 2024

(JTA) — More than 100 victims of Hamas’s massacres in Israel on Oct. 7 are suing UNRWA, the main relief agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, saying it effectively laundered money for the terrorist group, the latest in a spate of...

Twelve tough questions and simple answers about Israel

Twelve tough questions and simple answers about Israel

Gil Troy, (Jewish Journal via JNS)Published June 24, 2024

My good friend, Taglit-Birthright Israel’s CEO Gidi Mark, challenged me recently: “Can you offer short, punchy answers to some of the pressing questions our participants have—and some of the accusations being thrown at them?” Here’s my best...

All 18 the Israeli children and teens arrived safely in the US

Camp Ben Frankel welcomes 18 Israeli youngsters for summer session

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEFPublished June 23, 2024

On Sunday, 18 Israeli children began their first American summer camp adventure at Camp Ben Frankel, a Jewish sleepaway camp located in Makanda, Ill., about two hours south of St. Louis. All of these youngsters were either displaced from their homes...

Load More Stories