Last weekend, we watched as the Women’s USA World Cup team did what they do best: win. At times along their path to the championship, the team made it look effortless, but each and every victory was due to dedicated teamwork on and off the field. 

As our readers hopefully know, last August the Jewish Light embarked on a bold new collaboration with Jewish Federation of St. Louis, the Staenberg Family Foundation and an anonymous donor family in order to change our business model and provide our publications free of charge. It has been a team win for the St. Louis Jewish community ever since. Our print circulation is up more than 46 percent in less than a year and our digital footprint grows with each new edition posted on our website and with Jewish news and lively features shared on social media (if you don’t already, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @stljewishlight).

Simcha announcements are now free of charge

At the first meeting of the Jewish Light’s new Board of Trustees on Thursday, June 27, members unanimously approved another significant collaboration: Starting next week, the Jewish Light will begin publishing your celebratory Simchas — birth announcements, bar/bat mitzvahs, graduations, engagements, weddings and anniversaries — at no charge. We want to help you show off your important life moments in the paper, and to be able to share them with the Jewish community online, too. I want to thank our Board for their innovation and support.   

To learn more about submitting a simcha to the Light, please visit www.stljewishlight.com/simchas.

Jewish Light readership survey closing soon 

I also want to thank those of you who took the time to take our brief reader survey. This is another team effort between the Light and the larger community. The more we know about your preferences with our paper, magazines and online presence, the better we can deliver a vibrant Jewish Light for years to come. If you would still like to take the survey, do so now, as it will only be posted for a few more days at: www.stljewishlight.com/survey.