Seeking community’s support
As we near the celebration of Passover, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you and for helping our community thrive.
The St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association (STLRCA) is the only clergy organization in the greater St. Louis area open to rabbis and cantors from all branches of Judaism. STLRCA members are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and non-denominational, and we serve our community in congregations, organizations, hospitals, universities, and more.
As examples of our community support, we:
• Provide a weekly D’var Torah in the St. Louis Jewish Light.
• Teach at Jewish community educational and cultural events.
• Create community dialogue on critical issues including religious freedom, equal rights and Israel.
• Participate in interfaith and interracial dialogue, representing the Jewish community to the broader community throughout the region.
• Offer a forum for clergy to discuss and act on community issues.
• Support our clergy by offering a place for collegiality and professional development.
The STLRCA is also actively involved in Tzedakah throughout the community. Each year during Passover we recall our own people’s experiences of hardship and servitude in Egypt. The Exodus story calls us to remember others in our own midst who suffer and to work for their redemption as well. With the lessons of Pesach in mind, the STLRCA is proud to be a co-sponsor of the Rabbi Robert P. Jacobs Jewish Fund for Human Needs (JFHN).
JFHN supports small St. Louis area non-profits that provide direct services to those in need of food, housing, health care, education, employment, and other essential human needs. Along with our co-sponsor, the Jewish Community Relations Council, we care for our neighbors and affirm the Jewish community’s commitment to providing for the basic needs of our neighbors.
The St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association is vital to the ongoing health and vibrancy of the St. Louis Jewish community. We ask for your support for the important work of the STLRCA and, through us, the JFHN, to keep us and our community strong and thriving!
Please contribute generously with your tax-exempt gift of $18, $72, $180 or more. Please contribute securely online via Paypal at www.paypal.com/givenow (enter STLRCA in the search box) or send a check made out to “STLRCA” to St. Louis Rabbinical & Cantorial Association, P.O. Box 410792, St. Louis, MO 63141.
On behalf of the entire STLRCA, best wishes for a Sweet Passover and thank you for your continued generosity.
St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association
Response to recent commentary
Professor Henry Schvey’s commentary in the March 19 edition of the Jewish Light caught my eye. Instead of focusing on what President Trump has done with respect to the Jewish population and Israel, he imagines something else that Trump is really trying to do. All that stuff about clamping down on Columbia University that did nothing to protect its Jewish students? That was not really about the fact that Jews were threatened and kept from attending classes. No, that was about punishing Columbia for some other slight that Professor Schvey imagined was Trump’s real goal. How does he know this? He doesn’t say, but I assume it is some sort of mind reading.
What has Trump actually done with respect to the Jewish community and Israel? He sent an envoy to assist in the freeing of hostages held by Hamas. (While the last administration did nothing except hobble the Israeli response). He moved the U.S. Embassy to the capital of Israel — Jerusalem. All prior presidents talked a big game but did nothing. He was the force behind the Abraham Accords to bring real peace between Israel and several Arab countries.
His daughter married an observant Jew and converted and their children are being raised as Jews. Clearly that was just a smokescreen for something else Trump wanted.
But really, never mind what you see with your own eyes. Let’s instead imagine what this evil man must be thinking and how nefarious he must be. After all, we know how good Donald Trump is at hiding his thoughts and emotions so all of that activity that is pro-Jew and pro-Israel can be nothing but a dastardly head-fake screening his real intentions.
It sounds just like the plot of the latest spy series on Netflix. Hmm, I wonder if there is any connection between the Professor Schvey’s profession and his ability to dream up this fantastic plot?
Jay Kirschbaum Chesterfield
