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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

Why Jews should pay close attention to book banning and bomb threats against libraries

Why Jews should pay close attention to book banning and bomb threats against libraries

By Aviya Kushner, The ForwardPublished September 13, 2023

Bomb threats against libraries have become a growing trend in the U.S., and the Jewish community should pay attention. Violent attacks on books are a sad and dangerous theme throughout Jewish history, and the escalation from book bans to threats of physical...

Vice President Kamala Harris address a Rosh Hashanah celebration at her residence in Washington, DC, Sept. 12, 2023.

At Rosh Hashanah reception, Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris talk about putting antisemitism plan ‘into action’

Ron Kampeas, JTAPublished September 13, 2023

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Rosh Hashanah celebration at Vice President Kamala Harris’s official residence was a celebration of American Jewish success that included a reminder of the threats Jews still face. Douglas Emhoff, the Second Gentleman, began...

Feb 13, 2022; Inglewood, CA, USA; Rapper/recording artist Kanye West during the Cincinnati Bengals game against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.

Meta’s Oversight Board urges improved distinction between hate speech and criticism of hate speech

Asaf Elia-Shalev, JTAPublished September 13, 2023

(JTA) – In January, a Turkish Instagram user posted part of an interview with Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, making statements in praise of Hitler and denying the Holocaust as well — and swiftly had the post removed from the social media...

A map of purported connections between Jewish groups and other organizations in Massachusetts created by progressive activist group The Mapping Project, which says its goal is to map 'institutional support for the colonization of Palestine." The Mapping Project was the most prominent example of campus anti-Israel activity the Anti-Defamation League cited in its survey of such activity in 2022-23.

‘Anti-Israel events’ up on college campuses last year, ADL tally shows

Andrew Lapin, JTAPublished September 13, 2023

(JTA) — The number of student governments taking up resolutions to boycott Israel dropped sharply last year, even as anti-Israel activity on college campuses nearly doubled over the previous year, according to the latest tally by the Anti-Defamation...

Jewish actor and comedian Andy Samberg, left, portrays World War II photographer David E. Scherman, right in the biographical film "Lee.

Andy Samberg plays a famous Jewish WWII photographer in upcoming biopic

Jackie Hajdenberg, JTAPublished September 12, 2023

(JTA) — A historic wartime photography partnership from the 1940s — often credited as the first to capture many of the horrors of the Holocaust — is getting the Hollywood treatment. Kate Winslet stars in “Lee” as model-turned-wartime-photojournalist...

‘Maus,’ Nazi parallels and a Shylock reference make appearances at Senate hearing on book bans

‘Maus,’ Nazi parallels and a Shylock reference make appearances at Senate hearing on book bans

Published September 12, 2023

(JTA) – Nazi book burnings, antisemitic attacks on high school students and Shylock were all invoked during a Senate hearing on school book bans Tuesday morning.  The hearing brought to Capitol Hill the debate over how much control parents should...

How congregations are protecting themselves from swatting and bomb threats during High Holiday services

How congregations are protecting themselves from swatting and bomb threats during High Holiday services

By Arno Rosenfeld, The ForwardPublished September 12, 2023

White supremacists have recently attempted to disrupt services at dozens of synagogues by calling in false reports to police. Sometimes they claim that there was a bomb in the building or that a mass shooting is taking place. The wave of threats...

President of the Israeli Supreme Court Esther Hayut and fellow justices arrive for a court hearing on petitions demanding the annulment of the appointment of Shas leader Aryeh Deri as a government minister, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, Jan. 5, 2023.

What you need to know as Israel’s Supreme Court begins debating law limiting its power

Published September 12, 2023

(JTA) — For almost nine months, Israelis have been fighting over the future of their Supreme Court. Today, that battle has moved into the Supreme Court itself. In July, Israel’s hardline right-wing governing coalition passed a law to weaken the...

2 more synagogues evacuated due to bomb threats ahead of High Holidays

2 more synagogues evacuated due to bomb threats ahead of High Holidays

Andrew LapinPublished September 11, 2023

(JTA) – At least two more synagogues in the United States evacuated their congregants over the weekend following bomb threats, the latest in a series of such calls that have put dozens of congregations on high alert heading into the High Holidays. One...

Elon Musk doubted biblical miracles but loves Mel Brooks

Elon Musk doubted biblical miracles but loves Mel Brooks

By Benyamin Cohen, The ForwardPublished September 11, 2023

When Elon Musk was growing up in South Africa, his mother would take him to the local Anglican church, where she was a teacher. “It did not go well,” writes historian Walter Isaacson in a highly anticipated new biography of Musk due out on Tuesday.  Musk’s...

A view outside the Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, March 31, 2020.

Member of Goyim Defense League extradited to Netherlands to stand trial

Andrew LapinPublished September 11, 2023

(JTA) – A prominent member of an American neo-Nazi group has been extradited to the Netherlands, where he will stand trial for projecting an antisemitic message onto the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Robert Wilson is accused of being behind a February...

Apr 16, 1987; Rochester, NY, USA; The Beastie Boys performs at Rochester Community War Memorial.

Jewish rappers Beastie Boys are honored

Published September 10, 2023

(New York Jewish Week) — The corner of Ludlow and Rivington streets in New York City is now officially known as Beastie Boys Square. The co-naming of this Lower East Side street corner — where the shop featured on the Jewish rappers’ second album,...

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