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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

World news

The cover image of the New York Times on Friday, July 25, showed a child the caption said had been born healthy before suffering malnutrition in Gaza. (Screenshot)

NY Times front-page image of emaciated Gaza toddler sparks backlash, then an editors’ note

Grace Gilson and Philissa CramerPublished July 30, 2025

(JTA) — A haunting photo of an emaciated toddler cradled by his mother dominated the front page of Friday’s New York Times, quickly becoming a symbol of the hunger crisis in Gaza. Now, the newspaper has amended some aspects of his story amid criticism. “Mohammed...

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meets with silver medalist Yael Arad and bronze medalist Oren Smadja on Aug. 31, 1992, to celebrate their Olympic judo success. Photo: Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: July 30-Aug. 5

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished July 30, 2025

July 30, 1992 — Yael Arad Wins Israel’s First Olympic Medal Tel Aviv native Yael Arad, 25, becomes the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal, taking the silver in judo in the half-middleweight (61-kilogram) class at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona....

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement inside No. 10 Downing Street on the day the cabinet was recalled to discuss the situation in Gaza, on July 29, 2025 in London, England. (Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK will recognize Palestinian state if Israel does not end ‘appalling situation’ in Gaza

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished July 29, 2025

(JTA) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday that Britain will join France in recognizing a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire with Hamas. Starmer, who is facing...

Israeli army tanks and military vehicles move in the areas near the border line of the Gaza Strip on June 23, 2025 in Israel. (Tsafrir Abayov/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Americans’ support for Israel in Gaza plummets to record low, new Gallup poll finds

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished July 29, 2025

(JTA) — Just a third of Americans say they now support Israel’s actions in Gaza, and almost all of them are Republicans, a new poll finds. The poll by Gallup is the latest in a series by the polling firm about U.S. attitudes about the war. Early...

Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side of Manhattan is one of the largest Reform congregations in the world and the oldest in New York. (Courtesy Temple Emanu-El)

As images from Gaza spread, US rabbis wrestle with war’s morality from the pulpit

Asaf Elia-Shalev, JTAPublished July 28, 2025

(JTA) — As images of starving children in Gaza continue to circulate and the international outcry grows louder, a number of American rabbis used their pulpits this past Shabbat to speak up about the humanitarian crisis, some with sorrow, others with...

Teitel Brothers Wholesale Grocery on Arthur Avenue and 186th Street. Eddie Teitel stands by the entrance. Photo by PJ Grisar

Meet the Jewish family who’s been selling pork for 110 Years

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished July 25, 2025

Every Friday night, Gilbert Teitel’s mother would wash the floors in their Bronx apartment, set down newspapers (likely the Forverts), light the candles and serve a kosher meal. Then, at the start of the day of rest, the real work began: Downstairs,...

Workers paint and outdoor display next to a hotel wrapped in a Fantastic Four movie advertisement as San Diego prepares to host thousands of visitors for Comic-Con International, in San Diego, California, U.S. July 22, 2025.  REUTERS/Mike Blake

Marvel finally says it out loud: The Thing is Jewish, just like Jack Kirby who created him

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished July 25, 2025

Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in Marvel artist Jack Kirby’s world — literally. It’s only at the end of the film that it’s revealed that Earth-828, the version of our planet that Marvel’s First Family ends up saving, is a reference...

A 19th-century depiction of the execution of Luis de Carvajal the Younger’s sister. 'El Libro Rojo, 1520-1867' via Wikimedia Commons

A statue in Monterrey, Mexico, of Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva. Ricardo DelaG/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

These Jewish voices were never meant to survive. A St. Louis scholar is bringing them back to life

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished July 25, 2025

When Flora Cassen first came across the name Joseph Ha-Kohen, she was researching her first book on how Jews in Renaissance Italy were forced to wear yellow badges and hats — visible symbols of exclusion imposed by Christian authorities. “Ha-Kohen,...

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech to army leaders, on the eve of the annual Bastille Day Parade in the French capital, at l'Hotel de Brienne in Paris, France July 13, 2025.     LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

France to recognize Palestinian state this fall, drawing sharp backlash from Israel and U.S.

Compiled from JNS and JTAPublished July 25, 2025

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will officially recognize a Palestinian state during the United Nations General Assembly in September, a move met with harsh criticism from both Israeli and U.S. leaders. The decision, reported by...

A rally against the war in Gaza drew thousands to Tel Aviv's Habima Square, July 24, 2025. (Yair Palti)

Ceasefire talks collapse as Gaza war protests grow and Israel intensifies strikes

Compiled from JNS and JTAPublished July 25, 2025

As ceasefire negotiations faltered once again, the Israeli military intensified operations in Gaza while demonstrators packed Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to demand an end to the Gaza war. The dual developments, reported by Jewish Telegraphic Agency and...

Mark Feuerstein plays Rabbi Mo Zaltzman (center), a small town Rabbi who has to unravel a complex conspiracy. Courtesy of Salvador Litvak

New film ‘Guns and Moses’ blends Western grit with Jewish faith and fear

By Olivia Haynie, The ForwardPublished July 24, 2025

This story contains spoilers for the film Guns and Moses. When a member of his congregation, Allan Rosner (Dermot Mulroney), is murdered, the police arrest a young neo-Nazi who has been harassing the congregation. But Rabbi Mo Zaltzman (Mark Feuerstein)...

Reformed neo-Nazi Arno Michaelis speaks about his life experiences at Chabad of the Main Line in Merion, Pa., on July 22, 2025. Photo by Yakov Binyamin Turmelle.

Arno Michaelis once preached hate. Now he stands with the Jewish people

Dinah Bucholz, The Jewish Exponent via JNSPublished July 24, 2025

Arno Michaelis, a reformed neo-Nazi, told guests at Chabad of the Main Line in Merion Station, Pa., on Tuesday night that he is “committed” to his support of the Jewish community and Israel. Mark Erlbaum, a member of the congregation, had met Michaelis...

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