Save the date – 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4 at the .ZACK 

Last spring, thanks to a generous grant from the Kranzberg Family Foundation, the Jewish Light began work on a video storytelling project called “Why Be Jewish?” Part of the impetus for the project came from the 2015 St. Louis Jewish Community Study spearheaded by Jewish Federation of St. Louis, which showed, among other things:

• A shift away from organized religious institutions among younger Jews;

• Half of all Jews marrying outside of the religion;

• And many more non-Jews living in households with at least one Jew.

In addition, more than a fifth of the 1,000 or so local Jews interviewed for the study classified themselves as “just Jewish.” Yet despite this more nondenominational attitude toward religion, 84 percent of these respondents said being Jewish “was at least somewhat important to them,” and a majority said it was very important.

One of our goals in embarking on “Why Be Jewish?” was to find out who these statistics represent. Our hope was to start a community conversation about what it means to be a modern-day Jew in St. Louis, and explore the idea that there is no one way, or one right way, to be Jewish. There is no one-size-fits-all.

Given the parameters of the grant, our main focus was on St. Louis Jews in their 20s and 30s, though we did interview a few in their 40s and early 50s. By the time we completed a dozen videos, what became clear is that Judaism allows each of us to decide how we want to engage with it, and to what extent.

The 12 videos range in length from three to five minutes. Each tells of the participant’s connection to Judaism, how it has evolved and changed over time and what it may look like going forward. 

Participants included members of the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements as well as those who are unaffiliated but identify as Jewish. A few work in the St. Louis Jewish community but most do not.

We interviewed single people as well as married couples and members of the LGBTQ community. Two participants had converted to Judaism while another, who is Chinese-American, considers herself a Jew by choice. Several of those interviewed were married to a non-Jewish person, engaged to a non-Jew or divorced from one. 

So why am I telling you all of this? 

The Light wants to involve the entire St. Louis Jewish community in this project. Please join us for the premiere of “Why Be Jewish?” at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4 at the .ZACK, located in Grand Center at 3224 Locust St. This free event will feature live music by the Lazaroff Brothers, a pop-up shop from STL Style, cash bar and showing of “Why Be Jewish?” which runs approximately 35 minutes. A discussion between the audience and some of the videos’ participants will follow, along with a reception. Attendees will have a chance to provide feedback on the project and weigh in with their own thoughts about “Why Be Jewish?” throughout the evening. 

While there is no charge, please RSVP online at www.stljewishlight.com/zack or by calling Elise Krug at 314-743-3671. To view a couple of the videos in advance, go to www.stljewishlight.com/whybejewish.

Bob-a-palooza

The year 2019 is a big one for our Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Bob Cohn. Not only does 2019 mark 50 years of him working at the Jewish Light, he also will turn 80 years old in September. But that’s not all. Later this year he will be honored by the St. Louis Press Club as one of its Media Persons of the Year. 

The date for the event is still being determined, but we will keep you posted. Others to be honored include CBS news correspondent Barry Peterson, retired KTVI chief meteorologist Dave Murray, retired KPLR and KTVI general manager Spencer Koch, KMOX news anchor/reporter Carol Daniels, KMOX host Ron Elz, Post-Dispatch classical music critic Sarah Bryan Miller and Cardinals Senior Vice President Dan Farrell. For more information, go to www.stlpressclub.org. 

Ari’s light continues to shine

Lori Zucker got in touch to say that a new nonprofit charity in her daughter’s name, Spread Ari’s Light Foundation, is now up, running and hosting fundraising events. Eleven-year-old Arianna Dougan, better known as Ari, died in November 2017 from neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer that develops in the nerve cells. She had been battling the disease since she was 3 years old.

The mission of Spread Ari’s Light Foundation is to support families battling pediatric cancer. “We have chosen this very broad mission in order to be able to help in many different ways, not unlike all the amazing help and support we received while Arianna was in treatment,” Zucker explained. 

She said the first ever Spread Ari’s Light fundraiser will be a challah bake from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28 at Shaare Emeth Congregation.

Open to women of all faiths and ages, participants will each bake one challah to donate to the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry and can take home dough to bake as well. Each participant also will receive Jewish Light food writer Margi Kahn’s challah recipe, a Spread Ari’s Light Foundationapron and a new challah-baking bowl.

The cost is $36 for adults; $18 for teens and tweens. Proceeds will go to support the foundation’s efforts, which include dance therapy programs for children at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

“This month would have been Arianna’s 13th birthday and her bat mitzvah,” Zucker said. “Ari was planning to have all her guests gather to bake together as part of this ceremony, so we will gather in her memory to make bread together.”

The organization’s second fundraising event will honor Ari’s pure joy of dance when her troupe, Pazazz Performers, hosts its Ninth Annual Ari’s Light Gala (formerly Drea’s Dream Gala).  The gala will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at the Edison Theatre, on the campus of Washington University. Performers include members of the Ashleyliane Dance Company and Big Muddy Dance Company. Adult tickets range from $20 to $75; students tickets are $10.

To find out more about both of these events and to support Spread Ari’s Light Foundation, go to www.spreadarislight.org.