Just in time for the holiday season, Costco stores will sell a special edition of the Torah, according to JTA.

The Illustrated Torah, published by Gefen Publishing House of Jerusalem in conjunction with The Studio in Old Jaffa and the Jewish Publication Society of New York, will be on sale starting later this month in 10 Costco locations throughout the United States. St. Louis, however, isn’t one of these locations, said a spokeswoman for the company.

“Because many Jewish and Christian consumers do not have access to a local Jewish bookstore or even a synagogue Judaica shop, having The Illustrated Torah at Costco offers a much broader opportunity for this title to be picked up,” Neal Warnick, of the Seattle-based Wholesale Solutions, told JTA. Wholesale Solutions brokered the deal with Costco.

* Who says Jews can’t box? Certainly not the family of Yuri Foreman, who captured the world super welterweight championship last Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Foreman defeated champion Daniel Santos of Puerto Rico by decision to win the World Boxing Association 154-pound title.

As it turns out, Foreman, 29, who is studying to become a rabbi, became the first Israeli fighter to win a world boxing championship. He spent the 25 hours before the bout observing the Sabbath in his hotel room, JTA reported.

Foreman was born in the city of Gomel in present-day Belarus, then part of the Soviet Union, and moved to Israel at the age of 9. He relocated to Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2001 to pursue his boxing career.

* Sharpen your knives. The Manischewitz Company announced the launch of the 4th Annual Man-O Manischewitz Cook-Off. This contest is designed to encourage participants to prepare a kosher meal using the new Manischewitz all-natural broth, made with real chicken and beef.

The contest encourages contestants to experiment with kosher products similar to the way they prepare other ethnic cuisines such as: Chinese, Mexican and Italian. Entrants will compete for a chance to win the $25,000 grand prize package, which includes choice kitchen appliances.

The deadline for entries is January 31st. For details, go to www.manischewitz.com.

* Last week, N &S reported that a student group at St. Louis University was bringing Elie Weisel to town to speak on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Due to the large interest in Weisel’s talk, the event has been moved to a larger venue and will now take place at the Busch Student Center, Wool Ballroom, 20 N. Grand Blvd., Rooms 170-173, Lower Level. The event is free. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the talk will begin at 7.

* Also, in the mea culpa department, last week I messed up the spelling of Jaime Gottlieb’s website – it should be [email protected]. As part of her mitzvah project, Jaime is hitting softballs to raise money for the new St. Louis Fisher House, which provides housing for families of recovering war veterans. While I was at it, I messed up the spelling of Fisher House as well. Since my experience has been that spelling errors happen in threes, I’d like to take a moment to wish all of you a Happy Thankgiving!