Less than two weeks after the Second Annual Unsung Heroes Event, the Jewish Light, in collaboration with the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Community Center, will debut its Can We Talk? quarterly series on topics of interest to the Jewish community.

The kickoff feature will be on Conflict and Culture, and will begin with a comprehensive news focus in the June 1 edition of the Jewish Light. The spotlight topic will focus on “The Death of Klinghoffer,” John Adams’ opera being performed at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. The opera tells the story of the hijacking of the passenger liner Achille Lauro by the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1985, and the resulting murder of Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer.

On June 6, the Light, JCRC and JCC will present their first collaborative event to bring substantial community leaders together to discuss the opera and how art can serve as a haven for discussing important and controversial topics. Light Publisher/CEO Larry Levin will introduce the event, which will be moderated by Light Editor Ellen Futterman and will feature OTSL General Manager Timothy O’Leary, Washington University Professor of Drama and Comparative Literature Henry Schvey and noted St. Louis journalist and critic Judith Newmark.

The Light will continue its focus on this important topic through the month of June, with opinion pieces, reader comments and editorial comment.

A unique program underwritten by the Mildred Herbert & Julian Simon Foundation, Can We Talk? will continue in September and December with programs on Religious Extremism and Jewish Peoplehood. B’nai Brith is also providing support for the series.

Admission is free but requires RSVP, with special seating available for the Jewish Light Board of Trustees and Publisher’s Society members, the JCC Board, and the JCRC Board and Newmark Institute members. Sign-up forms will appear in the Light and online beginning May 4.