The Jewish Light, in conjunction with the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Community Relations Council, is kicking off an exciting new venture in June that will combine news, an evening of speakers and discussion, and community conversations.

Named “Can We Talk?”, the quarterly series will kick off with “Culture and Conflict: Jewish Issues in the Arts.” The timing will coincide with Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ performance of John Adams’ modern opera, “The Death of Klinghoffer,” which focuses on the 1985 hijacking of the passenger ship Achille Lauro by the Palestinian Liberation Front and the resulting murder of Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer.

Can We Talk? is made possible by generous funding from the Mildred, Herbert and Julian Simon Foundation and support from B’nai Brith.

The Light will devote a monthlong focus to each Can We Talk? Topic, with analysis, community feedback and a variety of professional viewpoints. The centerpiece program for the Culture and Conflict series kickoff will be the evening of June 6, will feature Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ General Director Timothy O’Leary, Washington University Professor of Drama and Comparative Literature Henry Schvey and other cultural experts, and will be moderated by the Light’s Editor Ellen Futterman. Programs will be at the JCC’s Carl & Helene Mirowitz Performing Arts and Banquet Center at the Staenberg Family Complex.

“We could not be more thrilled to begin our collaboration with the JCC and JCRC than with such a poignant focus as ‘Klinghoffer,'” said Light Publisher/CEO Larry Levin. “The opera lets us hone in on how the arts can help a community establish a dialogue on tough social issues in a constructive way.”Additional programs in 2011 will include a focus on Social and Political Extremism in September, and on Jewish Identity and Peoplehood in December. The speaker and discussion sessions for these two topics will be on September 12 and December 12.

Levin said that the month long Light focus will include a variety of elements. “We’ll have news and analysis stories to introduce each topic; encourage readers to respond on our website and with letters; cultivate point-counterpoint opportunities for experts; and provide an editorial voice about the matters. When this is combined with a public forum done in conjunction with our expert partners at JCRC and JCC, the potential for true, lasting dialogue is substantial and meaningful.”

Can We Talk? not only brings together three community organizations but some of their most important initiatives. The Light’s Publisher’s Society represents the group’s most committed individual supporters; JCRC’s Michael and Barbara Newmark Institute for Human Relations supports efforts to create a more diverse, pluralistic and harmonious community. And JCC’s Helene Mirowitz Center of Jewish Community Life devotes its efforts to programs and projects that focus on building continuity and connections.

“This unique project brings together the expertise and resources of each of our groups,” said JCRC Executive Director Batya Abramson-Goldstein. “The JCRC’s focus on cultivating dialogue, understanding and cooperation among St. Louis’s religious, racial, ethnic, and civic groups, the Light’s efforts in raising public awareness of important issues, and the JCC’s role as a gathering place for the Jewish community, meld together beautifully in this program.”

“The JCC and the Mirowitz Center are very proud to host this series as part of our ongoing effort to build community and provide education on key matters,” said Rabbi Brad Horwitz, the center’s director. “To not only have the strength of all three groups but to focus them on matters of such import to the Jewish community is an outstanding opportunity.”

A dessert reception will follow each of the three community sessions, which will begin at 7 pm. Admission will be free but RSVPs are encouraged.

For more details, watch the Light and its website at www.stljewishlight.com, the JCRC website at www.jcrcstl.org and the JCC’s website at www.jccstl.com. Information will also be posted on the organizations’ Facebook sites.

‘Can We Talk?’

MORE INFO: www.stljewishlight.com, www.jcrcstl.org, www.jccstl.com