Welcome Jewish college students (and your parents) to what we hope will be a terrific academic year for you. To make the transition to the St. Louis area – or back to the St. Louis area – easier, the Jewish Light has put together the first of what we hope will be an annual college guide to help you navigate your way through Jewish St. Louis and enhance your college experience.

Included in this guide are key Jewish organizations on campus as well as those in St. Louis that cater to Jewish students. You may notice that many of these campus organizations, including St. Louis Hillel and Chabad on Campus, are based at Washington University. That’s largely because Wash U has the largest Jewish population among local universities and colleges. However, both organizations regularly reach out to Jewish students throughout the area and those students are also invited to join any of the activities these groups sponsor at Wash U.

Speaking of Jewish groups on campus, we checked with most all of the other local universities and found no Jewish Student Union or campus organization specifically intended for Jewish students, with the exception of Maryville University. During the spring semester, Maryville created a Jewish Student Union and has appointed Karen Tabak as its staff adviser. She can be reached at 314-529-9678.

Our hope is that we have been as comprehensive as possible in providing you with the necessary information to help you get acclimated with the local Jewish community. As mentioned, this is our first effort of this kind, so if there is any information we missed, or anything that comes to mind that we should include in coming years, please let us know by emailing [email protected]. In fact, we invited you to email us with Jewish news of any sort throughout the academic year.

Once again, for those of you who have never lived here as well as those who are returning, welcome (back) to St. Louis. We wish you all the best in your endeavors – L’Shanah Tovah.

– Ellen Futterman, Editor