A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light
A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light
A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light
All content by Ben Sales
Park East Synagogue (Ben Sales)

A world-famous rabbi, a popular assistant and a succession crisis: Inside the rupture at Park East Synagogue

October 26, 2021
Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, 34, had been working for Park East Synagogue for a decade. (Screenshot from YouTube)

Park East Synagogue pushes out assistant rabbi, sparking protest

October 20, 2021
Jake Berman, a Jewish former student, speaks at a school board meeting in Southlake, Texas on Oct. 18, 2021. (Screenshot)

Local Jews raise concerns after teachers were told that Texas law requires ‘opposing’ views of the Holocaust

October 19, 2021
Sally Rooney speaks onstage during a conference in Pasadena, California on January 17, 2020. (Erik Voake/Getty Images for Hulu)

Sally Rooney: Israeli publishers can’t put out my work, but Hebrew translation ‘would be an honour’

October 12, 2021
Sally Rooney speaks onstage during a conference in Pasadena, California on January 17, 2020. (Erik Voake/Getty Images for Hulu)

Sally Rooney won’t let her new novel ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You?’ be published in Hebrew

October 11, 2021
Rabbi Asher Meza, in addition to supporting anti-vaccine activists, has bucked the wider Orthodox community in other ways. (Courtesy of Meza)

A Proud Boys-affiliated rabbi in Florida is offering to endorse COVID-19 vaccine exemption requests

October 9, 2021
Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the undersecretary for political affairs at the Bahraini Foreign Ministry, speaks at Yeshiva University in New York City on Oct. 4, 2021. (Courtesy of the Reut Group)

Bahrain signed a treaty with Israel. Now it wants to make friends with American Jews.

October 6, 2021
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. (Wikimedia Commons)

Anchorage mayor defends anti-maskers who wore yellow Stars of David in protest

October 1, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks to American Jewish leaders in New York City on Sept. 27, 2021. (Courtesy of the Jewish Federations of North America/Sara Naomi Lewkowicz)

Israeli PM Naftali Bennett to American Jewish leaders: ‘We have to redesign our relationship’

September 27, 2021
Iraqi leaders and activists attend a conference calling for the normalization of relations between Iraq and Israel in Erbil, Iraq on Sept. 24, 2021. (Safin Hamed/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq issues arrest warrant against activists who called for normalization of ties with Israel

September 27, 2021
Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, pictured here in January 2020, sponsored legislation that would have barred Seattle police officers from getting training from Israeli forces. (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty)

After a fight, Seattle City Council won’t bar police from training with Israeli forces

September 27, 2021
A view of the Secure Community Networks new command center in Chicago. (Courtesy of SCN)

Jewish security organization opens national command center in Chicago

September 27, 2021
Iraqi leaders and activists attend a conference calling for the normalization of relations between Iraq and Israel in Erbil, Iraq on Sept. 24, 2021. (Safin Hamed/AFP via Getty Images)

Hundreds of Iraqi leaders call for normalization of ties with Israel

September 25, 2021
Rep. Matt Gaetz addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 26, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Matt Gaetz calls the ADL ‘racist’ after it again calls on Tucker Carlson to step down for promoting white supremacist conspiracy theory

September 25, 2021
Members and supporters of the United Teachers of Los Angeles union wave and cheer in a downtown Los Angeles park at the end of a strike, Jan. 22, 2019. In September 2021, the union will vote on a controversial resolution to back the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel. (Scott Heins/Getty Images)

Los Angeles teachers union votes to postpone Israel boycott motion indefinitely

September 24, 2021
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are captured on cellphone video physically attacking Jews at a restaurant in Los Angeles, May 18, 2021. (Screenshot)

Hate crime charges filed in May fight with Jewish diners at LA restaurant

September 23, 2021
A photo of Helmut Oberlander when he was a translator for a Nazi death squad. (Screenshot)

97-year-old former member of Nazi death squad dies at home in Canada

September 23, 2021
An IDF officer kneels on the neck of activist Tuly Flint in the West Bank on Sept. 17, 2021. (Courtesy of Combatants for Peace)

Israel Defense Forces officer will be reprimanded after injuring and teargassing left-wing activists in West Bank

September 20, 2021
A snapshot of Rocket League, a popular online game. (Screenshot)

22% of adult Jewish gamers faced antisemitic harassment while playing, survey finds

September 15, 2021
The banner in question flies across the Florida sky, August 2021. Screenshot)

An aerial banner said ‘Jew, I have a question.’ It was a marriage proposal — the Jew reportedly said yes.

September 2, 2021
A protester holds a yellow star reading Not Vaccinated = Jew as protesters take part in a demonstration in Milan, Italy, July 24, 2021. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

An anti-vaxxer in Montreal said he would stop wearing a yellow star. He still thinks vaccine mandates are like the Holocaust.

September 2, 2021
Hundreds march through Chinatown en route to the State House during a Stop Asian Hate Boston rally, March 13, 2021. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

FBI reports drop in number of antisemitic crimes in 2020 amid rise in total hate crimes

September 1, 2021
Laizy Shapira, the creator of Srugim, is having trouble finding funding for his next show. (Screenshot from YouTube)

The creator of ‘Srugim’ is turning to fans to finance his next project

August 16, 2021
Israel becomes first country to begin giving third COVID vaccine shots

Israel becomes first country to begin giving third COVID vaccine shots

August 1, 2021
Naftali Bennett, now Israels prime minister, visits the haredi Orthodox town of Elad, September 2020. (Flash90)

Orthodox institutions dominate Jewish ritual in Israel. Could the new government change that?

July 29, 2021
The Unilever logo is seen in Warsaw, Poland, in 2020. (Aleksander Kalka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Ben & Jerry’s board chair says ‘I am not anti-Semitic’ as Unilever disavows BDS movement

July 28, 2021
Likud lawmaker Nir Barkat speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv, June 10, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Meet the former Jerusalem mayor who wants to succeed Netanyahu — and lead Israel

July 21, 2021
Omri Casspi, left, playing for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019. (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Omri Casspi, first Israeli player in NBA, retires from professional basketball

July 18, 2021
Naftali Bennett hints at change in Temple Mount prayer policy

Naftali Bennett hints at change in Temple Mount prayer policy

July 18, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, pictured here in 2014 giving a speech, holds his kippah to his head. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)

How Naftali Bennett’s kippah stays on his bald head and why it matters

June 22, 2021
Palestinian worshippers gather rocks to throw at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalems Old City, June 18, 2021. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Violence renews on Temple Mount and in West Bank amid escalating tensions between Israel and the Palestinians

June 20, 2021
An Israeli student receives a COVID-19 vaccine injection at a vaccination center in Tel Aviv, Jan. 23, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Palestinian Authority cancels deal for 1 million COVID vaccine doses from Israel

June 18, 2021
Naftali Bennett, left, will be Israels next prime minister, to be succeeded by Yair Lapid, right. (Yonatan Sindel/AFP via Getty Images and Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Everything you need to know about the Israeli government that will replace Netanyahu

June 2, 2021
A Palestinian demonstrator walks amid tear gas smoke fired by Israeli forces during a protest near the Israel-Gaza border fence, Dec. 27, 2019. (Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)

People are accusing Israel of genocide. These human rights lawyers beg to differ.

May 26, 2021
The Iron Dome interceptors (left) meet a volley of missiles from Gaza (right) on May 14, 2021. (Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

What is the Iron Dome? All about the missile defense system that changed how Israelis experience war

May 14, 2021
(Illustration by Grace Yagel)

The Pew study cheat sheet: 10 key conclusions from the new survey of American Jews

May 11, 2021
Students at Scheck Hillel Community School in south Florida celebrated Lag bOmer while commemorating the tragedy in Meron, Israel. (Greg Feldman)

Jewish day schools struggle with how to celebrate Lag b’Omer, commemorate tragedy

April 30, 2021
Israeli rescue forces and police at the scene after a mass fatality scene during the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag BOmer on Mt. Meron, in northern Israel on April 30, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)

At least 45 people dead in stampede at mass Lag b’Omer holiday celebration in Israel

April 29, 2021
Iranian-born judoka Saeid Mollaei competing for Mongolia at a tournament in Tel Aviv, Feb. 19, 2021. Mollaei left Iran after being forced into avoiding matches with Israeli athletes. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran’s judo team suspended until 2023 for refusing to face Israeli opponents

April 29, 2021
A 2018 photo of the Linfield University campus in McMinnville, Ore. (George Rose/Getty Images)

ADL calls on Oregon university president to resign over firing of Jewish professor

April 29, 2021
Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis will be the spiritual leader of Shirat Hatamar, an Orthodox synagogue in the West Bank settlement of Efrat. (Screenshot)

For the first time, a woman will lead an Israeli Orthodox synagogue

April 29, 2021
From right: Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand hold a banner at the march against anti-Semitism in New York City, Jan. 5, 2020. (John Lamparski/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Despite COVID restrictions, antisemitism barely decreased in US in 2020, ADL says

April 27, 2021
The Riverdale Jewish Center, one of the vandalized synagogues. (JTA archive)

Windows broken at four synagogues in Bronx Jewish neighborhood

April 25, 2021
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-HI, who introduced the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, speaks in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2021. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Senate passes legislation to improve hate crime reporting

April 25, 2021
Israel intercepts a rocket from Gaza in 2019. Terror groups in Gaza have renewed their rocket fire in recent days in response to protests in Jerusalem and the West Bank. (Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Dozens of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza as protests continue

April 25, 2021
A view of Jerusalem in 1994. (Maher Attar/Sygma via Getty Images)

Barricades preventing Palestinian gathering removed in Jerusalem following protests

April 25, 2021
A fire burns amid violent protests in Jerusalem, April 22, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

What you need to know about the violent clashes rocking Jerusalem this week

April 23, 2021
Activists hold a banner during a pro-refugee demonstration organized by HIAS outside the U.S. Capitol, Sept. 14, 2017. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

‘Relieved but disappointed’: How America’s Jewish refugee aid agency is doing 3 months under Biden

April 16, 2021
Tucker Carlson takes aim at the Anti-Defamation League in a monologue on Fox News, April 12, 2021. (Screenshot)

Why did Tucker Carlson talk about Israeli immigration policy?

April 16, 2021
An Israeli woman has her temperature taken before entering the Mahane Yehuda market in Israel, part of a national effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus, June 16, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Starting Sunday, Israelis won’t be required to wear masks outdoors

April 16, 2021
Robert Lappin’s charitable foundation was nearly wiped out through the downfall of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. (Lappin Foundation)

How the Bernie Madoff scandal rocked the American Jewish world

April 14, 2021

Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme devastated the Jewish world, dies in prison at 82: Report

April 14, 2021

Former ADL chief Abe Foxman says he would still give an award to Rupert Murdoch

April 13, 2021
El Al Israel Airlines departure counter is pictured empty after it cancelled flights to Italy at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, on February 27, 2020 (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel to allow vaccinated tour groups starting in May

April 13, 2021
Tucker Carlson

Fox News to ADL: We won’t fire Tucker Carlson for endorsing a white supremacist theory

April 12, 2021
New Knesset memberOfer Cassif at the Knesset Plenary Hall, ahead of the opening Knesset session of the new government, on April 29, 2019. Photo by Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90

Israeli police beat up and kneel on the face of left-wing Jewish lawmaker

April 9, 2021
Tucker Ford

ADL chief calls for Tucker Carlson’s ouster after Fox News host endorses white supremacist conspiracy theory

April 9, 2021

Accused Monsey stabber again found unfit to stand trial

April 9, 2021
Kendall Michaels, a Jewish senior who said she had experienced anti-Semitism on campus, worked with student senators to craft the bill under debate. (Courtesy of Michaels) 

Inside the debate over Judaism and Zionism that quietly roiled the University of Iowa

April 7, 2021

Netanyahu again tapped to form Israeli government without clear path to majority

April 6, 2021
Mansour Abbas, head of Israels Islamic Raam party, speaks during a press conference in the northern city of Nazareth, April 1, 2021. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Who is Mansour Abbas, the Arab-Israeli who could hold the key to Israel’s next government?

April 2, 2021
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - JANUARY 05 2020: (L_R) Chirlane Irene McCray, Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Andrew Cuomo, US Representative Jerry Nadler and members of the Jewish community take part during a No hate no fear solidarity march. As anti-Semitic incidents have increased in New York City as well as the United States, demonstrators held no hate no fear solidarity march. Representatives from various Jewish organisations as well as marchers from around the country joined the New Yorkers to call for an end to religious bigotry.

1 in 4 American Jews has experienced anti-Semitism since 2016, ADL finds

March 31, 2021
Yellow Star of David

Vaccine passports are being compared to yellow Stars of David from the Holocaust

March 30, 2021
Rabbi Gilad Kariv seen at the courtroom of the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem before the start of a court hearing about public transportation on Shabbat, Sept. 11, 2017. Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

It’s official: Gilad Kariv will be the first Reform rabbi in Israel’s parliament

March 24, 2021
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a rally in his support in Jerusalem, ahead of the Likud primaries later this week. December 22, 2019. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Netanyahu leads narrowly in Israeli election exit polls

March 23, 2021
A previous Israeli election billboard in Jerusalem for the Likud party shows President Donald Trump shaking hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also the Likud party chairman, Sept. 16, 2019. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)

Claims of fraud, a delayed result and fears of insurrection: Israel’s elections could look a lot like America’s

March 22, 2021
A recent photo of Ruben Golran, whose bar mitzvah in February 2020 was canceled due to early COVID restrictions in Italy. He celebrated in synagogue almost exactly a year later. (Courtesy of Elia Golran)

In Italy, a belated bar mitzvah celebration gives way to renewed virus fears

March 22, 2021

Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo is attempting damage control after kids saw a lion eat a bunny

March 22, 2021
Charles Barkley speaks at the podium prior to his sculpture being unveiled at the Philadelphia 76ers training facility in Camden, N.J., Sept. 13, 2019. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Charles Barkley’s hora at his daughter’s Jewish wedding went fine

March 21, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media in Jerusalem, Aug. 13, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) 

More than 20,000 protest outside Netanyahu’s residence days before Israeli election

March 21, 2021
Supporters of Israels Likud party lift a banner depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the election campaign at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, March 19, 2021. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images)

New rivals, same storyline: What to know about Israel’s 4th election in 2 years

March 19, 2021
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pictured here in 2019, vetoed a bill to make the ethnic studies curriculum a graduation requirement following objections to the content of its first draft. (Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images)

California approves ethnic studies curriculum that sparked debate among Jewish groups

March 18, 2021
White Supremacy

White supremacist propaganda nearly doubled in 2020 to most in a decade, ADL says

March 17, 2021
riot

Capitol rioter with ‘Hitler mustache’ who talked about eating Jews is a Navy contractor and Army reservist

March 16, 2021
(Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Tattered copy of ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ found at Capitol Police checkpoint

March 15, 2021
Israeli Army

Israel’s military says it has reached herd immunity to COVID

March 11, 2021
John J. Brown

John J. Brown, who bought hametz from thousands of Jews each year before Passover, dies at 88

March 11, 2021
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits at the Home Front Command base in Ramla on August 4, 2020. Photo by Yossi Aloni/Flash90

Benjamin Netanyahu: Court ruling creates danger of Israel being ‘overrun’ by ‘fake’ converts from Africa

March 9, 2021
eBay logo is seen displayed on a phone screen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on November 29, 2020. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

eBay removes Nazi toys from its marketplace

March 5, 2021
New immigrants from North America arrive on a special Aliyah Flight on behalf of Nefesh BNefesh organization, at Ben Gurion airport in central Israel on August 14, 2019. Photo by Flash90

Orthodox and secular Israelis are fighting over Jewish conversion. Why?

March 4, 2021
Frontier Logo

Frontier Airlines says it kicked a Hasidic family off flight because they weren’t wearing masks. The family claims they were.

March 1, 2021
Borans

Longtime AEPi executive who was affiliated with Turning Point USA is stepping down

March 1, 2021
Israel Supreme Court

Israeli Supreme Court rules state must grant citizenship to non-Orthodox Jewish converts in Israel

March 1, 2021
ORLANDO, FL - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald J Trump speaks during the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hyatt Regency Orlando on Sunday, Feb 28, 2021 in Orlando, FL. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

CPAC denies its stage was a Nazi symbol, as host hotel calls the symbol ‘abhorrent’

March 1, 2021
Tufts

Tufts pro-Israel Jewish student official no longer facing impeachment

February 27, 2021
Lowell

Massachusetts school board member announces resignation 2 days after using anti-Semitic slur on TV

February 26, 2021

School board member in Massachusetts called someone a ‘kike’ on live TV

February 25, 2021
Build Israel Great Again

After spat over support of Trump, Young Israel council replaces entire board

February 23, 2021
(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

CPAC cancels speaker who said Judaism is a ‘complete lie’

February 22, 2021
muscles

‘Want to see my muscles?’ An 81-year-old American bubbe at an Israeli gym gave the best interview ever.

February 22, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 09: House impeachment managers, lead by Congressman Jamie Raskin, Lead Manager, proceed through the Capitol Rotunda from the House side of the U.S. Capitol to the U.S. Senate chamber as the second impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump begins February 9, 2021 in Washington, DC. House impeachment managers will make the case that Trump was singularly responsible for the January 6th attack at the U.S. Capitol and he should be convicted and barred from ever holding public office again. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

Republican official deletes comment suggesting Trump’s trial was less fair than Nazi show trials

February 14, 2021
Jason Biggs

Jason Biggs jokes ‘I won’t get any more work,’ if Hollywood realizes he isn’t actually Jewish

February 14, 2021
TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 24: Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner (72) after an NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 24, 2018, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. The Steelers defeated the Bucs 30-27. (Photo by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire)

Zach Banner, Alysha Clark, Josh Bell to headline ‘Athletes against Antisemitism’ event

February 14, 2021
Parkland

‘Your voice was silenced’:Jewish parents of Parkland victims remember their kids three years later

February 14, 2021
UNITED STATES - JANUARY 4: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., center, Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., left,  on the House steps of the Capitol on Monday, January 4, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

‘Scary,’ ‘spunky,’ ‘wackadoodle’: How Jewish constituents of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert describe their new congresswomen

February 10, 2021
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pictured in 2019, vetoed a bill to make the ethnic studies curriculum a graduation requirement following objections to the content of its first draft. (Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images)

The controversy over California’s ethnic studies curriculum, explained

February 9, 2021
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits at the Home Front Command base in Ramla on August 4, 2020. Photo by Yossi Aloni/Flash90

Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial for corruption, pleads not guilty and walks out of courtroom

February 9, 2021
Madison Cawthorn

Following a string of controversies, Madison Cawthorn meets with his Jewish constituents

February 8, 2021

Northwestern neuroscientist who wrote anti-Semitic and racist tweets dies by suicide

February 4, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 13: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) wears a protective mask reading Censored at the U.S. Capitol on January 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives is expected to vote to impeach President Donald Trump later today, after Vice President Mike Pence declined to use the 25th amendment to remove him from office after protestors breached the U.S. Capitol last week. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)

Jewish groups condemn Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Her response: ‘I will never back down.’

January 29, 2021
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