Air Force 1st Lt. Roslyn Schulte of St. Louis, who was killed in action in Afghanistan on May 20, 2009, will be memorialized on the Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) Wall of Honor at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem. The Wall of Honor stands as a tribute to the courage of Jewish soldiers like Lt. Schulte who have fought in defense of the countries in which they lived.

Lt. Schulte is the daughter of Robert and Susie Schulte of Ladue. St. Louis attorney Norman Pressman and his wife Wendi Alper Pressman are friends of the Schulte family and made the donation to secure the memorial plaque.

“I’ve been to Ammunition Hill and it is a fantastic thing to view. (Lt. Schulte’s) death and funeral touched our entire community and she deserves to be remembered along with other Jewish heroes at this special place which St. Louisans can see when they visit Israel,” said Norm Pressman.

Ammunition Hill is the site of the pivotal battle that led to the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. The memorial contains preserved trenches and bunkers providing visitors with a unique, interactive emotional experience. The authenticity of the site, combined with the educational attractions, differentiates Ammunition Hill from other tourist attractions.

JNF is assisting in the development and renovation of the site, which serves as the location of the annual Jerusalem Day celebration, as well as the setting for the induction ceremony for IDF paratroopers.  The Wall of Honor is a way of recognizing a friend, loved one or relative who currently serves or served in the past in the military of any country. The plaque includes the soldier’s name and country, branch, rank and dates of service. Pressman says he expects the plaque will be in place in a couple of months.

Feast for the eyes

I don’t know about you but I am making it my business to visit the Washington U campus between Oct. 18 and 22 to check out the 10 winning sukkahs of Sukkah City StL competition. Judging from the pictures (see all of the winning designs online at www.stljewishlight.com) the designs are amazing as participants reimagined the traditional Sukkah through the lens of contemporary art and architecture. “The entries far exceeded our expectation – the quality of the images really speak for themselves,” says Rabbi Andrew Kastner of St. Louis Hillel, which co-sponsored Sukkah City STL with the university’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and The Museum of ImaJewnation. “The participants were so broad reaching from across the country and as far away as India. The diversity of participants is inspiring, as is their interpretation of the sukkah as a canvas to explore the role boundaries play in defining what it means to be human.”

The 10 winning projects, by both individuals and teams of architects and designers, were selected from a field of more than 40 entries.

Bruce Lindsey, dean of architecture in the Sam Fox School as well as the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Community Collaboration, chaired the competition jury. Other jurors included environmental designer Mitchell Joachim; Chicago architect Carol Ross Barney; and Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times. Rounding out the jury were Rabbi Hyim Shafner of Bais Abraham Congregation (and former chief rabbi of India); and Nancy Berg, Ph.D., professor of modern Hebrew language and literature in Arts & Sciences at Washington University.

Projects will be installed outdoors on the university’s Danforth Campus, near the Ann W. Olin Women’s Building.

The Sukkah City STL winners are Emery McClure Architecture, Lafayette, La.; Act3 (Ben Kaplan), Trivers Architecture and St. Louis Beacon, St. Louis; Filip Tejchman, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Cambridge, Mass.; Sean Corriel, New York; Lea Oxenhandler and Evan Maxwell Litvin, Philadelphia; Alexander Morley and Jennifer Wong, St. Louis; Casey Hughes Architects, Los Angeles; Christine Yogiaman, Forrest Fulton and Ken Tracy, St. Louis; John Kleinschmidt and Andy Sternad, New Orleans, and Bronwyn Charlton and Linda Levin, St. Louis.

For more information, call 314-808-1486 or go to samfoxschool.wustl.edu/sukkahcitystl.

In the form of a question

Jennifer Bernstein, coordinator of the child abuse prevention program at Jewish Family and Children’s Services, is currently in Los Angeles as a contestant on the game show “Jeopardy.” She’s been a fan of the show since high school and watches the show each night after she puts her child to bed.

No word yet on how Jennifer did, though the show(s) featuring her are tentatively scheduled to air in early December. Her boss at JF&CS, assistant executive director Mary Hoke, says everyone is rooting for Jennifer “and the longer she stays away from work, the better she is doing on the show.” “Jeopardy” airs locally at 4:30 p.m. Monday through Fridays on Channel 5 KSDK.

Wanted: How we met stories

Once again, I want to encourage those of you who are either getting married or are newly married or are celebrating a milestone anniversary and have a great “how we met” story to tell, to contact me at [email protected] with some details of your story or send a letter to Ellen Futterman c/o St. Louis Jewish Light, 6 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, Mo. 63146. Please be sure to include a daytime phone number where you can be reached.