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

NY federation calls Republican health care bill ‘potentially disastrous’

Ben Sales
Published March 24, 2017

The 5 best exotic Passover hotels

Ben Sales
Published March 24, 2017

Jewish bomb threat suspect undermines groups’ narrative on anti-Semitism

Ben Sales
Published March 23, 2017
The Temple in Atlanta has been a hub of social activism. (Ben Sales)

6 decades after synagogue bombing, Atlanta Jews feel threats again

Ben Sales
Published March 23, 2017

Jewish teen network donates more than $1 million

Ben Sales
Published March 22, 2017

Finally, Jewish camp for adults

Ben Sales
Published March 17, 2017

Anti-Semitic fliers calling for ‘ending Jewish privilege’ paper U of Illinois campus

Ben Sales
Published March 16, 2017

3 new bomb threats hit JCCs

Ben Sales
Published March 15, 2017

At Jewish schools hit by bomb threats, trying to teach students just enough to cope

Ben Sales
Published March 14, 2017

Association for Israel Studies slams Israel’s BDS travel ban

Ben Sales
Published March 10, 2017

2 more bomb threats hit centers in Silicon Valley, Brooklyn

Ben Sales
Published March 10, 2017

Not just prayers: synagogues are organizing to fight Trump’s agenda

Ben Sales
Published March 9, 2017

JCCs to Sessions: We’re ‘frustrated’ with progress on bomb threats

Ben Sales
Published March 8, 2017

4 more bomb threats emailed to JCCs

Ben Sales
Published March 8, 2017
Brian Federman, a lifelong member of the JCC in West Hartford, Conn., sends his daughter to the preschool there. While the bomb threats that have hit JCCs nationwide have shaken her routine, Federman says he and his wife are not considering withdrawing her. (Courtesy of Federman)

While some parents pull out of JCCs, others vow to remain despite bomb threats

Ben Sales
Published March 7, 2017

ADL: Juan Thompson’s arrest alone won’t stop ‘unprecedented’ wave of anti-Semitism

Ben Sales
Published March 3, 2017

At 10, egalitarian yeshiva wants to expand learning among Jews in the pews

Ben Sales
Published March 3, 2017
The Gordon JCC in Nashville is one of three Jewish institutions that has received three bomb threats since the beginning of 2017. (Courtesy of Gordon JCC)

These JCCs each received 3 bomb threats. Here’s how they’re dealing.

Ben Sales
Published February 28, 2017

Jon Stewart takes down Donald Trump on anti-Semitism

Ben Sales
Published February 28, 2017

With few safeguards, Jewish cemeteries make easy targets for vandals

Ben Sales
Published February 27, 2017

Did Donald Trump and the Jews have a good week?

Ben Sales
Published February 24, 2017
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the Union for Reform Judaism president, speaking at the movement’s biennial conference in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 7, 2015. Photo courtesy of the URJ

Reform movement’s challenge: Protesting Trump and remaining inclusive

Ben Sales
Published February 7, 2017
The interface of the Steinsaltz Talmud on Sefaria includes line-by-line translation, along with links to commentaries and references to a range of Jewish sources, which appear in a separate vertical. (Courtesy of Sefaria)

With full Talmud translation, online library hopes to make sages accessible

Ben Sales
Published February 7, 2017
A group of rabbis protesting outside of the Trump International Hotel in New York City, Feb. 6, 2017. (Ben Sales)

18 rabbis arrested during protest at Trump hotel

Ben Sales
Published February 6, 2017

Did Expedia’s Super Bowl ad feature an Israeli West Bank roadblock?

Ben Sales
Published February 6, 2017
Rabba Ramie Smith was ordained in 2016 and is now a clergy member at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, an Orthodox synagogue in New York. (Courtesy of Smith)

Facing OU synagogue ban, Orthodox women clergy say they’ll keep working

Ben Sales
Published February 3, 2017
Gidi Grinstein, right, and ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, center, in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency office in New York, Feb. 2, 2017. (Courtesy of Reut)

New strategy hopes to fight Israel’s delegitimization by making ‘big tent’ even bigger

Ben Sales
Published February 2, 2017

JCC bomb threat probe hindered by tech disguises

Ben Sales
Published February 1, 2017

Did Shabbat keep Jared and Ivanka in the dark about ‘Muslim ban’ crisis?

Ben Sales
Published January 31, 2017

In rare unity, Orthodox and liberal denominations are critical of Trump refugee ban

Ben Sales
Published January 30, 2017
Members of Am Shalom welcoming a Syrian refugee family at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Jan. 27, 2017. (Courtesy Am Shalom)

After Trump ban, Chicago-area synagogue turns from welcoming refugees to protesting

Ben Sales
Published January 29, 2017

Conservative movement proposes allowing non-Jews as synagogue members

Ben Sales
Published January 27, 2017
St. Louis Manifest

Twitter feed recalls Jewish refugees one by one on Holocaust Remembrance Day

Ben Sales
Published January 27, 2017
Jared Kushner and Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi at the Harvard Chabad New York Alumni Reception, June 2013. (Harvard Chabad)

Jared Kushner’s college rabbi recalls a snow-shoveling student mega-donor

Ben Sales
Published January 27, 2017

Trump draft order temporarily barring some refugees decried by liberal Jewish groups

Ben Sales
Published January 25, 2017

For Jewish groups in Women’s March, many causes to fight for and a long road ahead

Ben Sales
Published January 24, 2017

Jewish groups toe ideological lines in reactions to Trump inaugural address

Ben Sales
Published January 20, 2017

With Betsy DeVos pushing school choice, Ohio Jewish schools sing its praises

Ben Sales
Published January 20, 2017

Donald Trump, taking office, pledges to put ‘America first’

Ben Sales
Published January 20, 2017

All the Jewish stuff happening around the Women’s March

Ben Sales
Published January 20, 2017

Fordham U. denies students permission to form pro-Palestinian group

Ben Sales
Published January 17, 2017

Facing inauguration and women’s march, DC synagogues split on entering the fray

Ben Sales
Published January 17, 2017

Obamacare repeal effort sends jitters through Jewish service groups

Ben Sales
Published January 13, 2017
Downtown Whitefish, Mont. (twbuckner/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

After cancellation, Whitefish official says neo-Nazi marchers ‘likely can assemble’ later

Ben Sales
Published January 12, 2017

The first Jew to hold elected office in America

Ben Sales
Published January 12, 2017

Trump doubles down on ‘Nazi’ tweet at press conference

Ben Sales
Published January 11, 2017

In farewell address urging unity, Obama lists Iran deal among signature accomplishments

Ben Sales
Published January 10, 2017

Obama defends UN abstention, Iran deal and peace push in Israeli TV interview

Ben Sales
Published January 10, 2017
A complex in Wilmington, Del., housing four Jewish organizations was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat. (Courtesy of Siegel JCC in Wilmington)

After day of 16 bomb threats, FBI to coordinate with JCCs in ‘new reality’

Ben Sales
Published January 10, 2017

6 Israeli startups that want to change your everyday life

Ben Sales
Published January 5, 2017

Campaign rhetoric and post-election hate crimes draw Jewish historians into the fray

Ben Sales
Published January 4, 2017

Jewish Museum poster defaced with swastikas in New York subway station

Ben Sales
Published January 4, 2017

American wins International Adult Bible Contest in Jerusalem

Ben Sales
Published January 3, 2017

2 menorahs vandalized in Brooklyn

Ben Sales
Published December 29, 2016

Jewish groups split on Kerry’s settlements speech

Ben Sales
Published December 29, 2016

Kerry and Netanyahu fight it out one more time over Israeli settlements

Ben Sales
Published December 29, 2016

This 15-year-old Orthodox girl is a pingpong champion

Ben Sales
Published December 28, 2016

Baltimore Jewish man arrested in child sex abuse

Ben Sales
Published December 22, 2016

Jewish family leaves Pennsylvania city after being blamed for Christmas play cancellation

Ben Sales
Published December 22, 2016

Police, FBI on alert after threats to Montana Jewish residents

Ben Sales
Published December 22, 2016

5 things we just learned about Donald Trump’s Jewish doctor

Ben Sales
Published December 21, 2016

Married couple to face off in major Bible contest in Jerusalem

Ben Sales
Published December 20, 2016

Left-wing author A.B. Yehoshua agrees with Naftali Bennett’s West Bank plan

Ben Sales
Published December 20, 2016

Conservative group ousts rabbi for performing intermarriages

Ben Sales
Published December 19, 2016

Website targets Jewish community in white supremacist’s home town

Ben Sales
Published December 19, 2016

Israeli newscaster Lucy Aharish: Aleppo attack is ‘a Holocaust’

Ben Sales
Published December 15, 2016

A Syrian Jew’s message to Aleppo: Keep tradition and don’t lose hope

Ben Sales
Published December 15, 2016

Major groups skip Presidents Conference Hanukkah party at Trump hotel

Ben Sales
Published December 15, 2016

Israeli envoy slams US civil rights group for attacking anti-Islamist activists

Ben Sales
Published December 14, 2016

4 major Jewish groups to skip Presidents Conference Hanukkah party at Trump hotel

Ben Sales
Published December 14, 2016

Protesting Trump and Jewish organizations, IfNotNow brings young left-wing Jews to the streets

Ben Sales
Published December 13, 2016

Jews are world’s most educated religious group, study finds

Ben Sales
Published December 13, 2016

As BDS resolutions stall, pro-Palestinian students shift tactics

Ben Sales
Published December 12, 2016

I celebrate Hanukkah — but here’s why I love Christmas

Ben Sales
Published December 9, 2016

Jewish Pearl Harbor survivor recalls chaos and resilience on day of attack

Ben Sales
Published December 7, 2016

Size matters: How a ‘largest menorah’ tiff landed two rabbis in Jewish court

Ben Sales
Published December 7, 2016

Jewish Trump voters are ready for their party to get started

Ben Sales
Published November 23, 2016

From ADL to ZOA: Two events showcase diverging Jewish rhetoric under Trump

Ben Sales
Published November 22, 2016

Stephen Bannon a no-show at Zionist Organization of America dinner

Ben Sales
Published November 20, 2016

Liberal Jewish groups to Trump: Condemn anti-Semitism, back two-state solution, dump Bannon

Ben Sales
Published November 18, 2016

RCA silent on Bannon, but ‘extremely concerned’ about anti-Semitism

Ben Sales
Published November 18, 2016

Abraham Foxman withdraws from ZOA dinner, calling it ‘politicized’

Ben Sales
Published November 17, 2016

ADL leader: US anti-Semitism worse than at any time since 1930s

Ben Sales
Published November 17, 2016

Petition calling on federations to condemn Bannon draws 1,700 signatures

Ben Sales
Published November 17, 2016

Twitter suspends some alt-right accounts

Ben Sales
Published November 16, 2016

Stephen Bannon backed in statement from Republican Jewish Coalition board member

Ben Sales
Published November 15, 2016

At first Jewish Comic Con, artists and geeks revel in tradition

Ben Sales
Published November 15, 2016

David Duke among white supremacist leaders praising Trump for Stephen Bannon appointment

Ben Sales
Published November 15, 2016

Stephen Bannon: 5 things Jews need to know about Trump’s chief strategist

Ben Sales
Published November 14, 2016

After Trump’s win, Jews in red states feel emboldened, or embattled

Ben Sales
Published November 11, 2016

5 of Leonard Cohen’s most Jewish songs

Ben Sales
Published November 11, 2016

Could Bernie Sanders have beaten Donald Trump?

Ben Sales
Published November 9, 2016

One Jew, One Vote: Ari Teman, 34

Ben Sales
Published November 8, 2016

One Jew, One Vote: Shira Botzum, 20

Ben Sales
Published November 8, 2016

At Jewish colleges, student voters take a dim view of 2016 campaign

Ben Sales
Published November 8, 2016

Orthodox papers duel over printing of Hillary Clinton’s photo

Ben Sales
Published November 7, 2016

One Jew, One Vote: Judy Dubrov, 63

Ben Sales
Published November 7, 2016

Chorus of Jewish groups declares support for Standing Rock protest

Ben Sales
Published November 4, 2016

For Jewish feminists supporting Clinton, rise of Trump clouds joyous moment

Ben Sales
Published November 4, 2016

One Jew, One Vote: Tamar Fox, 32

Ben Sales
Published November 3, 2016
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