The omission of any reference to Rabbi Bernard Lipnick from the Light’s lead article on “25 Years of History” of St. Louis’” (which highlighted numerous prominent Jewish leaders in our city) is surprising.  He was the chief rabbi at B’ nai Amoona for four decades, a driving force behind the creation of Solomon Schechter Day School which merged with the Saul Mirowitz Day School-Reform Jewish Academy, and was a prominent leader in the community and beyond, having led nearly 50 educational trips to Israel and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As Jewish Light Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Robert A. Cohn noted upon his retirement: “Throughout his distinguished career, Rabbi Lipnick has been a tower of strength not only to his beloved synagogue, but to the entire Jewish and general communities of St. Louis.”

Rabbi Lipnick died 15 years ago but is somehow not even mentioned among the list of “notable deaths” of Jewish leaders. While Rabbi Lipnick would be the last person to crave attention or point out this omission, the Jewish legacy he left for St. Louis and the Jewish community should not be forgotten. 

Mark Sophir

St. Louis

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